keen, chased leader, blundered 13th, rider lost iron briefly, ridden and every chance 2 out, effort on inside and not much room over 1 out, switched right approaching last, beaten when blundered last
chased leader, mistake 7th, ridden and every chance 2 out, soon led, ran on flat
led, headed after 2 out, ridden and flashed tail flat, kept on same pace
Only four go to post to contest the Queen's Cup but all have claims and we prefer those held by RYDAL PARK in an interesting heat. The locally based trainer hasn't enjoyed much success at this track in recent seasons but Rydal Park may be able to reverse the trend if he can put behind him the jumping problems that plagued him at Leicester. He was made favourite to beat a useful yardstick in Back Nine on that occasion and is fancied to recoup those losses. Yann's is partnered by a top amateur but the veteran campaigner has never been the quickest and could find that at least one of his opponents has too much toe. Scotland Yard easily won a bad race at Stratford for the Pipe's but only had three more starts under Rules for the yard before being moved on. He's been in good form between the flags and always looked in command at Cottenham last month so has to be respected. Coat Of Honour has the highest official rating courtesy of some fair performances for Howard Johnson but it's doubtful as to whether he's still capable of reaching such dizzy heights. Nonetheless, his neck defeat at Cottenham marks him down as a player in this company but we'll take Rydal Park to emulate the exploits of Cantarinho who took this race for the yard in 2004.
Scotland Yard (UAE) 4-6 (11-0) A gng wl; led app 3 out; in comm app last, won at Cottenham 3m ptp in Mar beating Bell Rock (11-0) by 2 1/2l, 10 ran.
Coat of Honour (USA) 8-1 (12-5) Ap; led 9-15 & 4 out til hdd nxt; led aft 2 out til hung lft & caught cl home, 2nd of 9, nk behind Caveman (12-5) at Cottenham 3m ptp in Feb.
Yann's (FR) 13-2 (12-5) In touch, ridden 10th, kept on under pressure from 3 out, no impression, 3rd of 11, 11l behind Nouveau Maire (11-7) at Sedgefield 2m 4f hts chs (6) gd in Mar.
Rydal Park (IRE) 6-4fav (12-1) Held up in rear, 7th when fell 10th, in a race won by Back Nine (11-13) at Towcester 2m 6f hts chs (6) gd in Mar, 10 ran.
