tracked leader, mistake 2nd, under pressure 3 out, soon one pace
held up in touch, under pressure 4 out, chased leaders next, hard ridden to challenge approaching last, kept on same pace
led, soon clear, hard ridden and strongly challenged approaching last, headed and no extra close home
held up in rear, fell 5 out
held up in touch, keen hold, chased leader 6th, weakened 4 out
held up in rear, headway before 3out, ridden and every chance last, stayed on under pressure to lead final 50 yards
Ann Hamilton's Silver Sedge faces no easy task giving weight away all round in this handicap chase and it may be worth giving another chance to OR D'OUDARIES, who gets the verdict ahead of Jimmy Bond. The last mentioned opened his account for the season when a narrow winner over Jass at Newcastle last month and he has to be respected following that performance but a 7lb rise and the subsequent heavy defeat of the runner up that day is a concern so he may be best watched now. Peter Monteith's Cash On Friday has been pulled up in his last two outings, the latest of them in October 2008, and he is probably best left out of calculations on his reappearance, while Richard Guest's Livingonaknifedge has been well held in recent starts and is hard to recommend. Evelyn Slack's Cash Man is capable of taking a hand in the finish and has run to a reasonable level of form of late so has to be considered but a better bet looks to be Or d'Oudairies, who gets the vote. The eight-year-old has slipped to a decent mark now and looks worth another chance having run well when a close second behind Sir Ian at Stratford recently.
Silver Sedge (IRE) 9-1 (11-0) Held up towards rear, headway to chase leaders 10th, outpaced next, kept on approaching 4 out, weakened approaching 3 out, 4th of 8, 29l behind Jimmy Bond (10-5) at Newcastle 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft.
Jimmy Bond 13-2 (10-5) Held up towards rear and raced wide, headway 11th to chase leaders, ridden approaching 3 out, led appraoching last, driven out, held on towards finish, won at Newcastle 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft beating Jass (11-12) by nk, 8 ran.
Cash Man (IRE) 10-1 (11-12) Prominent, ridden and every chance between last 2, kept on same pace flat, 4th of 10, 5l behind Sumak (11-7) at Sedgefield 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-110 (4) sft in Dec.
Or d'Oudairies (FR) 12-1 (11-12) Chased leaders, mistake 1st, ridden after 3 out, went 2nd approaching last, no chance with winner, 2nd of 12, 11l behind Sir Ian (11-3) at Stratford 2m 4f hcp ch 0-110 (4) gd.
Livingonaknifedge (IRE) 20-1 (11-4) Mid-division, lost place and ridden after 6th, tailed off, 8th of 10, well behind Bradford Boris (10-12) at Leicester 2m 4f hcp ch 0-110 (4) hvy.
Cash On Friday 20-1 (11-4) Behind, struggling 11, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out, in a race won by Ryminster (11-10) at Kelso 3m 1f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gs in Oct '08, 8 ran.
