led and keen, headed 3rd, tracked leader, weakened 4 out
tracked leaders, led 3rd, jumped right 3 out, soon under pressure, disputed lead last, headed flat, soon hard ridden, kept on
tracked leader, challenged 4 out, weakened after 3 out
tracked leaders, challenged after 3 out, disputed lead last, hard ridden to lead flat, driven out
held up in rear, blundered badly and unseated rider 6th
held up, pushed along 8th, soon struggling, tailed off
COCKNEY TRUCKER is the marginal preference to Doeslessthanme. Phillip Hobbs' charge had a disastrous first taste of fencing at Ascot when unseating the rider at the third fence. He has had a run over hurdles to take away those memories and is sure to have been extensively reschooled at home. Howard Johnson has been amongst the winners over the last month and we should expect Doeslessthanme to be popular with the local punters. He won very impressively over hurdles at Kelso in April though did not help himself with a couple of mistakes on chasing debut at Carlisle. Alan King's horses are coming back into form so watch the market in relation to Penn Da Benn. Similar comments apply to Edgbriar, who had looked a stayer to note when obliging in a soft ground hurdle at this track previously. Alfloramoor won a handicap hurdle here in February but was easy to back on chasing introduction. A fair race in prospect and Cockney Trucker is given a chance to redeem himself.
Alfloramoor 28-1 (10-13) Held up hit 5th, outpaced 4 out, soon took poor 4th, 4th of 7, 50l behind Synchronised (11-2) at Market Rasen 2m 6f beg chs (4) sft in Nov.
Cockney Trucker (IRE) 14-1 (10-10) Pressed leader, hit 3rd, lost 2nd approaching 2 out, weakened last, 7th of 15, 18l behind Khyber Kim (11-9) at Cheltenham 2m Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) (4yo+) (1) sft in Nov.
Doeslessthanme (IRE) 15-8fav (11-2) Tracked leaders, jumped slowly 3rd, outpaced 5 out, kept on from after 3 out, chased winner after last, no impression, 2nd of 10, 12l behind Fiendish Flame (11-2) at Carlisle 2m nov chs (3) gd in Oct.
Edgbriar (FR) 12-1 (11-1) In rear, hampered 9th, headway to track leaders 12th, mistake next, jumped left and weakened 3 out, 5th of 7, 39l behind Awesome George (10-12) at Ascot 2m 5f beg chs (3) gd in Nov.
Penn Da Benn (FR) 10-1 (11-4) Mid-division, ridden approaching 2 out, soon weakened, 16th of 23, 50l behind Andytown (11-2) at Cheltenham 2m 4f hcp (2) gs in Mar.
Sparrow Hills (IRE) 8-1 (11-11) Took keen hold, led, narrowly headed 2 out, still every chance last, weakened flat, 4th of 9, 10l behind Zabeel Palace (10-8) at Ascot 2m 3f nov hcp hdl 0-120 (3) gd in Oct.
