towards rear, pushed along 10th, headway 4 out, soon ridden, stayed on from next, never troubled leaders
mid-division, outpaced 10th, ridden and kept on from 3 out
in touch, hit 2nd, headway to track leader 6th, 2nd when fell 8th
tracked leaders, left 2nd 8th, joined leader after 11th, led on bit 4 out, pushed clear 2 out, comfortably
always behind, tailed off when pulled up before 11th
towards rear, headway 11th, lost place 4 out, soon weakened
led, joined after 11th, headed when fell 4 out
chased leaders, mistake and lost place 4th, behind when hampered 8th, tailed off and pulled up before 4 out
in touch, lost place 7th, headway after next, left 2nd 4 out, ridden to chase winner after next, kept on but no impression
mid-division, close up 6th, badly hampered and lost place 8th, soon behind, no chance when fell 2 out
A very good line-up for this chase with Knife Edge getting the vote over stable companion Simply Gifted, Mister McGoldrick and Cruise Leader. More on the selection later. The field includes the Grand National winner Amberleigh House, but this trip might be on the sharp side for him now. Cruise Leader is on the upgrade and is probably value for more than the three pounds he has been raised for winning last time, and he likes it here. Il 'Athou is well weighted based on his course and distance win of February 2003, although he looks held by Asparagus based on Uttoxeter May form. Skippers Cleuch has always threatened to be a very good horse, and could yet take high order, but injuries have seen him absent for just short of a year now; Simply Gifted is five pounds above a winning mark but, even so, can still go well. The handicapper has had his say with Mister McGoldrick following a very good novice season, which included a third to Well Chief at Aintree, so it will be interesting to see how he fares off his current mark. D'Argent was also a very good novice but seems to have paid for hammering Tyneandtyneagain at Warwick. This brings us to Knife Edge. Placed in Graded events on each of his last three runs, he has maintained a decent level of chasing form, despite not being quite as good as his former high-class self. That said, he has shown enough from his current rating to play a part in a race of this nature for his new handler, Jonjo O'Neill and, accordingly, gets the call.
