in rear, ridden 3 out, headway approaching strongly to lead towards finish
held up, ridden 5th, soon weakened, pulled up before 4 out
towards rear, chased leaders approaching 3 out, soon outpaced
chased leader, ridden after 4 out, weakened next
led and keen, ridden and headed approaching 3 out, kept on
mid-division, chased leaders 4 out, challenged when hit 2 out, no extra flat
chased leaders, led approaching 3 out, ridden out, headed towards finish
chased leader, weakened 4 out
in touch, weakened from 4 out
Theatre Belle impressed when landing a Sedgefield novice hurdle recently and with a couple of her rivals likely to be feeling the effects of tough races at Aintree we will side with Chris Grants' mare to win again. The winner of a Catterick seller in February, Theatre Belle has shown no signs of halting with her rate of improvement and the only concern would be the drop back in trip from 2m 4f to 2m. She travelled so strongly at Sedgefield that even that would not unduly be a concern as they are unlikely to hang about. Doubly Guest is the one who should take them along but her main fault is her failure to settle. A free running sort, her second behind Pierrot Lunaire on her hurdling debut makes her look a snip on the handicap but she had a very tough race at Ascot. La Vecchia Scuola ran a cracker at Aintree, travelling extremely well when ridden to get the 3m trip before flattening out in the straight when pressure was applied while Pagan Starprincess has proved herself a decent sort in juvenile novice hurdles this season but suffered a tired looking fall at Aintree. Theatre Belle comes here a relatively fresh animal and while she needs to step up once again from that Sedgefield win, she gets the vote.
La Vecchia Scuola (IRE) 100-1 (10-3) Held up in last, headway approaching 3 out, soon ridden, weakening in 5th when mistake last, 5th of 13, 14l behind Pettifour (11-4) at Aintree 3m nov hdl Grd 1 (1) gd.
Castlecrossings (IRE) 4-1fav (10-8) Held up towards rear, steady progress from 6th, ridden after 3 out, chased winner approaching last, stayed on, 2nd of 17, 4 1/2l behind Jaunty Flight (11-3) at Newbury 2m 5f mrs hcp hdl (1) sft in Mar.
Pagan Starprincess 33-1 (10-7) Held up in rear, headway when hit 5th, soon pushed along, ridden approaching 3 out, weakened before 2 out, 15 lengths down when fell at the last in race won by Binocular (11-0) at Aintree 2m nov hdl Grd 1 (1) gs, 10 ran.
Topflight Wildbird 16-1 (10-3) Held up, headway 7th, ridden 3 out, chased winner last, one pace, 2nd of 11, 4 1/2l behind Khachaturian (10-5) at Uttoxeter 2m nov hcp hdl (2) gd in Mar.
Doubly Guest 7-1 (10-13) Led to 2nd, pressed leader, ridden approaching 2 out, no extra approaching last, 6th of 15, 9l behind Mamlook (11-12) at Ascot 2m 4yo nov hcp hdl (2) gd.
Theatre Belle 4-1 (10-6) Held up in touch, smooth headway 3 out, led going well next, drew clear from last, comfortably, won at Sedgefield 2m 4f nov hdl (4) gs beating Peters Star (11-6) by 6l, 13 ran.
Bollin Ruth 4-7fav (11-3) Held up, headway 2 out, led before last, soon ridden, headed and no extra flat, 2nd of 5, shd behind Mini Minster (11-0) at Hexham 2m mrs hcp hdl (4) sft in Mar.
Mini Minster 16-1 (11-2) Chased leader, led 4th, headed approaching last, one pace, 2nd of 13, 11l behind Sinatas (11-2) at Carlisle 2m 1f nov hcp hdl 0-110 (4) gs.
Buffy 14-1 (10-1) Prominent until fell 4 out in race won by Augustine (11-1) at Kelso 2m hcp hdl 0-120 (3) gs in Dec, 14 ran.
