chased winner, blundered 12th, outpaced approaching 3 out, blundered 2 out, went 2nd at last, but no chance with winner
made all, shaken up and drew clear 3 out, stayed on well, unchallenged
chased leaders until mistake and unseated rider 5th
always behind, blundered and lost touch 9th, continued, tailed off
mistake and unseated rider 2nd
behind, mistake and hampered 5th, well behind from 10th, tailed off
chased leaders, not fluent 10th, disputed 2nd from 14, not fluent next, when 2nd 3 out no chance with winner when lost 2nd at last and weakened
Another race to look forward to and Comply Or Die, who looks likely to emerge as one of the leading staying novices' this season, can take this on the way to better things, with Baron Windrush and Limerick Leader perhaps his strongest challengers. The selection has been odds-on favourite on all three of his starts so far this term, and he has set the standard as far as this race is concerned. A facile success at Bangor was followed by defeat at the hands of Ollie Magern over course and distance here, before he outstayed them over 2m 5f at Wincanton over the weekend. He jumps and stays well and it will take a good one to beat him here. If there are any chinks in his armour then baron Windrush might be able to exploit them. Nigel Twiston-Davies's gelding looked more than useful when thrashing Limerick Leader by 18 lengths in soft ground at Stratford last month, before coming a cropper at the first here last time. We will have to forget that latest run though, and he handles good ground and is back over a trip here, so we think he will go very well. Limerick Leader is also better than that Stratford defeat suggests and with that run under his belt he went on to score at Chepstow last time. He doesn't perhaps have the room for improvement of the other pair, but he can get much closer to the other pair on this better ground. Ruby Gale would also have frame claims on his best form, but has proved disappointing on his last two starts, and with Martin Pipe shouting from the rooftops that this will be his Open Meeting, we take Comply Or Die to be another piece in his jigsaw.
