held up, headway 4th, chased leaders, led 4 out, headed before next, one pace
held up, headway 8th, kept on one pace
always prominent, led before 3 out, ridden clear 2 out, eased flat
held up, some headway 8th, behind and pulled up approaching last
led, headed 2nd, weakened 9th, pulled up before 11th
in touch, ridden and weakened 9th
never on terms, pulled up after 8th
led 2nd, blundered and headed 4 out, soon weakened
held up, lost place 3rd, pulled up before 8th
towards rear, headway 9th, never nearer
in touch, ridden and weakened quickly 7th, pulled up after 8th
always behind (saddle slipped)
This is a wide open affair to open the card, and Carlys Quest and Blunham Hill are both worthy of serious consideration, but we will side with the 9-year-old from the Nicky Henderson yard Spring Dawn. The gelding has failed to complete on each of his last two runs, but showed enough on his penultimate start when falling at the last at Ludlow to suggest that he will be good enough to take a hand at the finish. His last two efforts have been over the fences but his best form has been over hurdles and he looks the one to beat now that he is returning to this sphere. Carlys Quest is returning from a long absence but she is from a leading yard and will be interesting if she is supported in the market. She has clearly had her problems but has shown a fair level of form and she will be shortlist material if the market speaks in her favour. Blunham Hill was pulled-up last time but had previously run well when a decent second to Bramlyn Brook at Towcester. He is a consistent sort and looks to have decent place claims. Of the remainder, Eva So Charming was well beaten behind The Grey Butler at Stratford last time, but he will find this easier so he cannot be ruled out. This is a difficult race to predict, but we will take a chance on Spring Dawn.
