in touch, headway 4 put, ridden and weakened next
towards rear, ridden and headway approacing 3 out, no impression from next
mid-division, blundered 3rd, quickly lost pace, soon pulled up
chased leaders, 2nd and every chance when fell last
held up in mid-division, ridden approaching 3 out, weakened next
chased leaders, ridden 3 out, kept on same pace
took keen hold, held up behind, ridden and headway approaching 3 out, soon weakened
chased leaders, behind when badly hampered 4 out, pulled before next
held up, hampered 3rd, headway approaching 3 out, ridden to lead after 2 out, kept on well
prominent, ridden and weakened 3 out
held up in mid-division, headway after 4 out, ridden and weakened next
led, ridden and headed after 2 out, kept on same pace
held up towaards rear, brought down 4 out
held up towards rear, driven and behind from 5th, tailed off
chased leaders until 4 out, behind when pulled up before 3 out
towards rear, headway approaching 5th, ridden and weakened 3 out
held up, behind when brought down 4 out
towards rear, headway 4 out, staying on same pace when slightly hampered last
While there may be harder races on the card to solve, this does not look the easiest of contests to solve with several of the 21 runners holding claims including Greenhope, Man O'Mystery, In Contrast and Idaho d'Ox, the vote goes to Bernardon, who would be a popular winner for his owners, former Liverpool footballers Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler. The selection has been kept busy in recent weeks and followed a creditable fourth behind Nowell House, who reopposes here on 7lb worse terms, with a close third behind the progressive Paddy The Piper at Kelso last week. The son of Sauve Dancer was not given the hardest of rides on either of those occasions and it would come as no surprise to see him step up again and land this decent prize. Greenhope, Man O'Mystery, In Contrast and Idaho d'Ox all ran in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham with Greenhope fairing the best of them. He again has to be respected but all four had hard races at Cheltenham and it may pay to look elsewhere for the biggest dangers to the selection. Nicky Henderson's Saintsaire has become very frustrating and does have his ideal conditions today. However, we have lost faith in the French-bred gelding and he is probably best left out of calculations. Irish raiders Puck Out and Anno Jubilo are worthy of a mention, along with the hat trick seeking Fundamental but the vote goes to Bernardon.
