led, pushed along after 4 out, ridden approaching next, headed after last, rallied to regain lead close home
held up in rear, raced wide approaching 4 out, headway from 3 out, led after last, soon ridden, stayed on and caught close home
tracked leaders and 3rd, outpaced 3 out, weakening when hit 2 out
tracked leader, pushed along approaching 3 out, soon lost place
It will be a surprise if MR THRILLER is beaten in this small field affair, while Starluck looks the pick of the remainder for the forecast. The David Pipe-trained selection is rated a stone and more clear of the others, and he was last seen dotting up in the Listed Silver Trophy at Chepstow last month. Soft ground suits and should help to take the sting out of the others over this shorter trip, so David Pipe looks to have found a good opportunity for him to follow up. Starluck looked very impressive when scoring hard held at Cheltenham and was, of course, good enough to finish fourth in this year's Triumph Hurdle. There is no doubting his class, though his speed could be blunted in such testing ground. Pemberton has not been seen since failing to complete at headquarters in January, but he had previously looked smart when winning his other two novices' contests on soft and heavy with the minimum of fuss. Both he and Thumbs Up, who is of similar ability, are at home in these conditions, but will need to show vast improvement to lower the colours of our pick, Mr Thriller.
Mr Thriller (FR) 7-2 (10-9) Tracked leader, led approaching 4 out, clear 2 out, stayed on strongly, easily, won at Chepstow 2m 4f listed hcp hdl (1) sft in Oct beating Golan Way (10-6) by 15l, 14 ran.
Starluck (IRE) 5-6fav (10-12) Held up in last, closed going well when not fluent 3 out, went 2nd after 2 out, went left and led on bit last, cruised away flat, impressive, won at Cheltenham 2m 4yo hdl (2) gf in Oct beating Classic Swain (10-12) by 2 1/2l, 5 ran.
Pemberton 14-1 (11-7) Close up, effort 2 out, soon weakened, pulled up before last, in a race won by Walkon (11-7) at Cheltenham 2m 1f 4yo nov hdl G2 (1) hvy in Jan, 7 ran.
Thumbs Up 2-1fav (11-7) Tracked leaders, chased leader from 3rd, led 3 out, stayed on well from last, won at Bangor 2m 1f nh nov hdl (4) sft beating Sahrati (10-12) by 4 1/2l, 12 ran.
