held up in touch, hard ridden to chase leaders 5 out, weakened 2 out
led until 5th, remained prominent, lost place 11th, soon weakened, moderate 4th
held up in touch, chased leaders 4 out, soon hard ridden to challenge, one pace approaching 2 out, no chance with winner
tracked leader, led 9th, jumped well throughout, 15 lengths clear 2 out, stayed on strongly
tracking leaders when fell 2nd
tracked leader, led 5th, headed 9th, soon pushed along and lost place, rallied 11th, weakened 4 out
Winning form at this track is always a plus and WELLFORTH looks capable of adding to his surprise victory over a longer trip here last month. The County Galway raider is 8lb higher now but today's opposition, if anything, is less daunting. Winning pointer Farmer Frank looks harshly treated on his first start in a handicap and was pulled up on his reappearance at Leicester, while Royal Wedding also failed to complete at Sandown last month though that was in much better company. Knight Legend has been beaten in sellers over hurdles lately so Prince Des Marais may be the best of the rest as he wasn't beaten far over 2m3f at Doncaster last time, though Canni Thinkaar has been knocking on the door in novice events.
Farmer Frank 8-1 (12-4) Took keen hold, led 1st until 5th, lost place after 8th, weakened approaching 4 out, pulled up before 2 out, in a race won by William Somers (12-0) at Leicester 2m 7f hts chs (2) gd in Feb, 8 ran.
Royal Wedding 12-1 (11-7) Held up in rear, headway approaching 13th, modest 7th when blundered 17th, soon weakened, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by Dashing George (11-7) at Sandown 3m hcp chs 0-125 (3) sft in Feb, 10 ran.
Knight Legend (IRE) 50-1 (11-0) In touch in mid-division, headway 6th, outpaced 3 out, stayed on same pace to take 3rd last, 3rd of 14, 18l behind Tricky Tree (10-13) at Huntingdon 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-115 (4) gs in Feb.
Prince Des Marais (FR) 6-1 (11-11) Held up in touch, challenged 4 out, every chance next, kept on same pace from last, 3rd of 8, 2 1/2l behind Qianshan Leader (11-12) at Doncaster 2m 3f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd.
Wellforth (IRE) 14-1 (10-5) In touch, progress to join leader 13th, ridden to lead 2 out, stayed on flat, won at Fakenham 3m hcp chs 0-130 (3) gs in Feb beating Rey Nacarado (10-12) by 8l, 6 ran.
Canni Thinkaar (IRE) 9-2 (10-9) Led, ridden 3 out, headed approaching 2 out, kept on one pace, 2nd of 7, 4 1/2l behind Neil Harvey (11-0) at Folkestone 2m 5f beg chase (5) gd.
