held up towards rear, headway 6th, led 2 out, soon ridden, stayed on well flat
behind, lost touch 6th, tailed off when pulled up
chased leaders, mistake 7th and 8th, outpaced 3 out and fell
behind, headway 8th, ridden to chase leaders when fell
made most to 5th, chased leader, lost place 4 out, tailed off when pulled up
chased leaders to 6th, soon lost place, tailed off when pulled up
mid-division, lost place 7th, soon behind
tracked leaders, headway 8th, challenged 3 out, ridden and every chance from next, no extra flat
held up towards rear, headway 7th, every chance 2 out, soon ridden, kept on same pace
held up in rear, headway 7th, ridden to chase leaders 3 out, weakened after next
Not a bad novices' hurdle to begin the card and Cake It Easy looks good enough to take it, with Marsh Run and Conchita likely to emerge as his biggest dangers. The selection loves cut in the ground, as evidenced by a heavy ground success on the Flat and a good performance last time out when runner-up to Cha Cha Cha Dancer over this trip at Ayr on soft. The level of form he achieved on the last outing is the best on offer here and a reproduction, or improvement, should be good enough. Marsh Run, a previous winner of the Sandown mares' only bumper final, has not quite lived up to that billing over timber just yet, but this is still only her fourth outing and she showed her best form so far last time at Sedgefield. She needs to improve to score, but she can certainly get closer this time in ground she handles. Conchita is a very interesting hurdling debutante who won two Hexham bumpers in the spring of 2003 but has not been seen since. If she retains her ability then she may well run a big race, but our preference here is for Cake It Easy.
