tracked leaders in 3rd, 2nd briefly halfway, ridden in 2nd again 3 out, dropped to 3rd before last, soon no impression, dropped to 4th run-in
held up in last, slight mistake 1st and pushed along briefly, ridden before 3 out, soon no impression, never a factor
tracked leaders in 4th, ridden in 4th 3 out, 4th at last, progress into 2nd inside final furlong, kept on without threatening winner
tracked leader in 2nd, 3rd 3 out, ridden in 3rd next, headway to lead at last, stayed on well run-in
led, pushed along 3 out, ridden and strongly pressed after next, headed at last, no extra and dropped to 3rd inside final furlong
Modem has had a couple of runs at Dundalk since finishing third behind Identity Thief in a Grade 2 at Down Royal but has 5lb extra to carry under the conditions of the race. Archive has competed at a high level since beating Disco at Galway in October but this looks another for Gordon Elliott via DE PLOTTING SHED. A winning bumper, he followed a hurdles debut defeat over the minimum at Navan with a facile victory at Clonmel last month and has the scope to go much higher than his rating of 129. Jimmy Two Times has run very poorly on his two latest starts but Viconte Du Noyer has shown massive improvement over fences though probably needs quicker ground.
Modem 11-4 (9-6) Led, ridden and headed under 2f out, no impression in 3rd 1f out, kept on one pace, 3rd of 4, 4 1/4l behind Mandatario (9-6) at Dundalk 2m pol in Feb.
Archive (FR) 25-1 (10-10) Towards rear, pushed along and no impression after 3 out, 14th entering straight, ridden and no impression approaching last, kept on one pace, 13th of 23, 25 1/2l behind Henry Higgins (10-10) at Leopardstown 2m hcp sft in Jan.
De Plotting Shed (IRE) 1-5fav (11-12) Chased leader, closed and led from 3 out, soon asserted, stayed on well, easily, won at Clonmel 2m 3f mdn hvy in Feb beating Crown Hill (11-4) by dist, 7 ran.
Jimmy Two Times (IRE) 20-1 (11-2) Chased leaders, 6th halfway, challenged on inner before 2 out, ridden 2 out, no extra before last and eased, tailed off, 9th of 13, dist behind Squouateur (10-11) at Fairyhouse 2m 4f hcp hvy in Feb.
Viconte Du Noyer (FR) 15-8 (11-5) Tracked leader, 2nd halfway, mistake 4 out, pushed along and slight mistake 2 out, soon no extra in 3rd, slight mistake last, 3rd of 4, 17 1/2l behind The Game Changer (11-8) at Tipperary 2m 4f (1) gd in Oct.
