led, headed before 3 out, ridden before last, kept on to take 2nd place near finish, just held
tracked leaders, ridden and weakened before 3 out
towards rear, headway 3rd to chase leaders, with leader 6th, pushed along 7 out, soon weakened, pulled up before last
in rear, headway before 4 out, ridden before 3 out, weakened before 2 out
held up towards rear, headway before 7 out, went 2nd 4 out, led before 3 out, clear before last, headed near finish when no extra and lost 2 places last strides
with leader, in 3rd before 5 out, ridden before last, kept on to lead near finish, just held on
tracked leaders in 4th, lost place 10th, soon in rear, plugged on from 3 out, never dangerous
towards rear, headway before 7 out, weakened before 5 out
SAINT ARE is only a pound higher than when winning this last year. He was a fair third at Sandown before falling at the first in the Becher Chase at Aintree on his latest outing and could be set for a repeat against largely out-of-form rivals. Court By Surprise finished ahead of Astracad in the final of last year’s series at Sandown in January but was still well beaten and prefers much softer going while Ericht turned in a shocker at Kempton last month. Samingarry could be interesting with his yard going well, however, and Seventh Sky runs in one of these veteran races for the first time and has been highly tried since finishing fourth in the Grand Sefton at Aintree in December. Blue Kascade has won at Wetherby and Musselburgh this season but was beaten out of sight off this mark at Kelso last time.
Saint Are (FR) 14-1 (11-0) Fell 1st, at Aintree 3m 2f hcp (1) gs in Dec.
Seventh Sky (GER) 40-1 (10-11) Mid-division, weakened before 8 out, pulled up before 4 out, at Haydock 3m hcp (1) sft in Jan.
Samingarry (FR) 66-1 (11-3) Mid-division, lost place 3rd, behind when pulled up before 10th, at Cheltenham 3m 2f hcp (2) sft in Jan.
Astracad (FR) 25-1 (10-12) Held up towards rear, headway on outside chasing leaders 16th, ridden and weakened after 3 out, 8th of 16, 19 1/2l behind Pete The Feat (10-1) at Sandown 3m hcp (2) sft in Jan.
Ericht (IRE) 7-2 (11-8) Jumped left at times, tracked leaders, left in 2nd place 6th, lost 2nd 8th, outpaced and never going from next, tailed off, 4th of 7, 36 1/2l behind Foxtail Hill (11-0) at Kempton 2m 4f hcp (3) gs in Jan.
Killala Quay 20-1 (10-13) Led until after 4th, chased leader, blundered and weakened 3 out, soon lost touch, tailed off and pulled up soon after, at Sandown 2m 7f hcp (2) gs in Dec.
Court By Surprise (IRE) 20-1 (10-5) Held up in mid-division, stumbled badly 12th, headway chasing leaders approaching 14th, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out, 6th of 16, 16l behind Pete The Feat (10-1) at Sandown 3m hcp (2) sft in Jan.
Blue Kascade (IRE) 7-2jfav (11-12) Prominent, lost place from 15th, tailed off, 7th of 9, dist behind Total Assets (10-9) at Kelso 3m 2f hcp (4) gs in Dec.
