always towards rear
tracked leaders, ridden and every chance over 1f out, stayed on one pace
close up, ridden and weakened over 1f out
towards rear, headway and switched left over 1f out, led inside final furlong, stayed on
held up, ridden and headway over 1f out, ran on, not reach winner
raced alone in centre, overall leader, ridden and hung left 2f out, soon headed, weakened final furlong
prominent, ridden 2f out, faded inside final furlong
chased leaders, ridden over 1f out, kept on same pace
led stands side group until led overall over 1f out, ridden and headed inside final furlong, stayed on
raced wide, in touch, ridden over 1f out, weakened inside final furlong
towards rear, ridden over 1f out, kept on inside final furlong, never nearer
Only one favourite has won this in ten years though the last three winners have been well supported. Uptight scrambled home in a four-runner nursery for his second victory in three starts and begins the campaign only 1lb higher and with a 5lb claimer on board. Cool Strutter won a Sandown maiden for Richard Hannon before competing exclusively at Listed level and has joined David O'Meara while Snap Shots had some smart form before well beaten in the Two-Year-Old Trophy at Redcar. The lightly-raced and progressive Kyrenia Castle has only raced on an artificial surface and Adrian Nicholls gets off him to ride Mark Johnston's Midlander, who showed up well for a long way on his reappearance at Pontefract. The latter finished behind JOHNNY B GOODE on that occasion and it's Richard Fahey's charge who can come out on top here though he wouldn't want the ground to firm up as he completed a double last season on ground with some give.
Cool Strutter (IRE) 8-1 (9-2) 4th of 6, 3 1/2l behind Dikta Del Mar (8-12) at Longchamp(FR) 5f Listed stks 2yo sft in Oct.
Snap Shots (IRE) 33-1 (9-2) Mid-division, ridden over 1f out, faded inside final furlong, 11th of 23, 11l behind Limato (8-12) at Redcar 6f Lstd auc stks (1) gd in Oct.
Appleberry (IRE) 33-1 (9-0) Tracked leaders, ridden halfway, weakened final furlong, 10th of 21, 9l behind Cursory Glance (9-0) at Royal Ascot 6f 2yo fll Grp 3 (1) gf in Jun.
Among Angels 4-1fav (9-7) Held up behind, driven and outpaced well over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, kept on final furlong, never reached leaders, 6th of 9, 8l behind Popeswood (8-13) at Sandown 7f 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) gs in Aug.
Northgate Lad (IRE) 7-2 (9-2) Led, ridden and headed over 1f out, kept on same pace, 4th of 7, 6l behind Midterm Break (9-0) at Beverley 5f 2yo stks (2) gs in May.
King Crimson 17-2 (9-7) Led after 1f, headed halfway, chased leader, weakened final furlong, last of 8, 8l behind Mignolino (9-6) at Wolverhampton 5f 3yo hcp (4) in Feb.
Kyrenia Castle (GER) 8-1 (9-5) Made all, joined 3f out, driven and ran on, won at Wolverhampton 5f 2yo mdn stks (5) in Dec beating Rahmah (9-5) by hd, 4 ran.
Midlander (IRE) 12-1 (8-6) Prominent, lost place well over 1f out, 8th of 9, 12l behind Grandad's World (8-13) at Pontefract 6f 3yo hcp 0-95 (3) gs.
Johnny B Goode (IRE) 10-1 (8-6) Tracked leaders, under pressure over 2f out, stayed on same pace final furlong, 4th of 9, 2 1/2l behind Grandad's World (8-13) at Pontefract 6f 3yo hcp 0-95 (3) gs.
Bowson Fred 8-1 (8-2) Prominent, ridden over 1f out, stayed on same pace under pressure inside final furlong, lost place towards finish, 5th of 10, 3 1/2l behind Squats (9-1) at Ascot 5f 2yo hcp (2) gf in Sep.
Uptight (FR) 13-8fav (9-1) Made all, joined over 3f out, ridden over 1f out, ran on gamely, won at Nottingham 5f 2yo hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Nov beating Snow Cloud (9-2) by hd, 4 ran.
Horsforth 8-1 (8-13) Close up, headway on inner to join winner over 2f out, ridden to lead over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 9, 3l behind Captain Colby (9-3) at Chester 5f 2yo hcp 0-95 (3) gd in Sep.
