held up, outpaced after 3 out, headway next, chased leaders last, went 2nd near finish, no chance with winner
chased clear leader, close up approaching 3rd, ridden approaching 2 out, weakened soon after
raced in 4th, weakened approaching 2 out
raced in 3rd, driven and closed approaching 2 out, weakened run-in
given 6 lengths lead start, steadied approaching 3rd, drew clear after 2 out, driven out
held up in 5th, closed on leaders after 3 out, went 2nd 2 out to last, weakened run-in
held up, closed on leaders approaching 2 out, went 2nd last, no impression run-in, lost 2nd near finish
always last, lost touch 5th, tailed off
Desert Quest has not progressed as much as may have anticipated since being put over fences for new trainer Jonathan Gask and he could be of interest back over hurdles but a safer bet looks to be Pigeon Island, who gets the vote with Penzance rated the pick of the remainder. The selection has shown gradual improvement this season, putting up his best display so far when beating the useful Group Captain by seven lengths in a decent novices' hurdle at Cheltenham last time. A reproduction of that effort may well suffice. Group Captain's trainer Alan King is represented here by Penzance, who is not as good as he once was and is hard to recommend with any confidence. Vic Dartnell has his string in good order at present so Hide The Evidence has to be respected but he would need to improve on recent form to trouble the judge and of more interest may be the Paul Nicholls-trained Poquelin, who is relatively lightly raced for his current connections having formerly been trained in France. His former stable companion Desert Quest obviously warrants respect but preference is for Pigeon Island.
Alph 100-1 (11-9) Held up towards rear, headway 3rd, ridden approaching 2 out, soon weakened, 19th of 22, 30l behind Ashkazar (10-12) at Sandown 2m lst hcp hdl (1) gd in Mar.
Penzance 8-1 (10-12) Mid-division, ridden after 4 out, no impression, 8th of 16, 25l behind Border Castle (9-13) at Ayr 2m hcp hdl Grd 2 (1) gd.
Hide The Evidence (IRE) 25-1 (11-7) Chased leaders, hit 3rd, took closer order 4th, one pace from 3 out, 8th of 21, 19l behind Pearl King (10-10) at Aintree 2m lst hcp hdl (1) gd.
Pigeon Island 7-2 (11-8) With leader, quickened to lead 3 out, ran on strongly from last, eased near finish, won at Cheltenham 2m 1f nov hdl (2) gd beating Group Captain (11-8) by 7l, 7 ran.
Poquelin (FR) 5-1fav (11-12) Always mid-division, 11th of 19, 11l behind Katies Tuitor (11-4) at Cheltenham 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-140 (2) gd.
Caracciola (GER) 40-1 (10-13) Held up in rear, headway after 3 out, weakened approaching last, 19th of 22, 35l behind Silver Jaro (10-13) at Cheltenham 2m 1f hcp hdl Grd 3 (1) gs in Mar.
Desert Quest (IRE) 12-1 (10-13) In touch, blundered 8th, soon weakened, 15th of 18, well behind Stan (9-9) at Aintree 2m hcp chs Grd 3 (1) gs.
Monzon (FR) 200-1 (11-0) In rear, hit 5th, not fluent 8th, weakened approaching 13th, 7th of 8, well behind Big Buck's (11-3) at Aintree 3m 1f nov chs Grd 2 (1) gd.
