made all, clear 5th, not through at last, unchallenged
pulled hard, chased winner, jumped right first, ridden and weakened quickly 3 out, soon behind
held up last, went second 3 out, no chance of winner
Toi Express looks to face a fairly straight-forward task in his attempt for a third consecutive success and is taken to complete the hat trick with Sink Or Swim preferred to Sean At The Ivy for the forecast spot. The selection, a winner of two novice chases last term has been kept to the smaller obstacles so far this season and has shown fair form in the process recording wins at Newton Abbot and Exeter (twice) in four starts, latterly when beating useful flat recruit Analyze by two-and-a-half lengths. A reproduction of that effort should suffice for the Philip Hobbs-trained gelding, who looks more than capable of giving weight away to his three rivals. The ex-Irish Sink Or Swim looks to be the pick of the opposition and showed enough at Listowel, on his final outing in Ireland last month, to suggest that he is the best bet for the forecast. Daisy Dale has shown little sign of ability in five starts so far and has yet to start at odds shorter than 50/1, while the Paul Nicholls-trained Sean At The Ivy has been bitterly disappointing in two starts in bumper-company, all but being pulled up at Plumpton last week on the latter occasion. He may be capable of better but it will be a surprise if he is good enough to beat Toi Express.
