led, joined halfway, headed and ridden entering straight, dropped to moderate 4th 1f out, no extra
raced 2nd early, disputed lead halfway, led entering straight, ridden clear from 2f out, stayed on strongly final furlong, impressive
chased leaders in 3rd, ridden in 4th entering straight, weakened over 1f out
held up in last, niggled along in last over 2f out, still moderate last 1f out, switched to outer inside final furlong, stayed on without ever threatening to go 3rd close home, never nearer
chased leaders in 4th on outer, ridden in 3rd 2f out, soon no impression, dropped to 4th inside final furlong
held up in 5th, pushed along entering straight, soon ridden, went 2nd over 1f out, kept on without threatening easy winner
Aidan O'Brien has won the last two of these and had five entries at the early stage. He relies on Smuggler's Cove this time around and he looked progressive when landing a Listowel maiden last month and is almost certain to improve again. He'll need to if he's to get the better of BERTIE LE BELGE, a winner over 6f and at this trip in his opening two runs before finding Group 3 company too much to handle at Leopardstown where he was seven lengths behind John F Kennedy. Fields Of May followed her maiden success at Tipperary with a reasonable run in a nursery there while Leading Actress narrowly beat Blackbriar, who runs in the opener, on her debut at Cork before a decent effort in a Curragh Group 3. The remaining pair have some improvement to make though both look capable of doing so.
Bertie Le Belge (IRE) 9-1 (9-3) Chased leaders, 5th halfway, ridden 2f out and no impression in 4th 1f out, under pressure and kept on one pace, 4th of 7, 7l behind John F Kennedy (9-3) at Leopardstown 1m 2yo Grp 3 (1) gf in Sep.
Smuggler's Cove (IRE) 9-4 (9-5) Tracked leader in 3rd, pushed along under 3f out, ridden entering straight, progress to lead over 1f out, kept on well 100 yards out, won at Listowel 7f 2yo mdn gd in Sep beating New Alliance (9-0) by 1 1/4l, 7 ran.
Bleu Ciel Et Rouge (IRE) 4-6fav (8-11) Made all, ridden over 2f out, strongly pressed inside final furlong, all out close home, won at Killarney 1m 2yo flls mdn auc stks gd in Aug beating Before Long (8-7) by hd, 9 ran.
Fields Of May (IRE) 4-1 (8-13) Unruly before start and dismounted, settled 3rd, 4th after 1f, 3rd halfway, pushed along approaching straight, ridden 1 1/2f out, dropped to 4th 1f out, kept on well under pressure, 4th of 8, 2 1/2l behind Fit For The Job (9-5) at Tipperary 7f 2yo hcp gf in Aug.
Leading Actress (IRE) 12-1 (9-0) Chased leaders, 7th halfway, ridden in 6th 1 1/2f out, no impression, 7th of 11, 5l behind I Am Beautiful (9-0) at Curragh 6f 2yo fll Grp 3 (1) gf in Jun.
Orcia (IRE) 33-1 (8-11) Mid-division, 8th halfway, progress straight and ridden to challenge 1f out, led and edged left under pressure 100 yards out, kept on, won at Dundalk 7f 2yo mdn fll pol beating Maira (9-0) by 1l, 12 ran.
