held up in mid-division, drifted towards rear 3 out, under pressure soon after and little response, faded
settled at rear, good headway after 3 out, went second after 2 out, responded to pressure to dispute lead over last, led run-in but headed on line
raced in third, niggled along before 3 out and lost ground quickly, dropped to last 2 out and weakened
held up in rear, took closer order after 4 out, went second after 3 out, travelled well into lead just after next, pressed last and headed soon after, rallied well to lead again on line
led just after jumping 1st, ridden approaching 2 out and headed soon after, weakened
led early before settling in second, lost ground 3 out and pushed along, under pressure before 2 out where mistake, no extra
settled towards rear, headway into third 3 out, mistake next, stayed on at one pace
FUGITIVES DRIFT completed a double when scoring here in October then found 3m beyond him in a Pertemps Qualifier at Newbury. No Comment was chasing last winter without much luck but ran quite well on his return to hurdling at Market Rasen last month. Deniliquin won at Vichy in September 2018 but hasn't been seen since well beaten at Sandown in December the same year. He has a superb pedigree for the Flat so could find testing ground against him. Endlessly was in fine form in novice company early this year but so far hasn't made the transition to handicaps.
Fugitives Drift (IRE) 4-1fav (11-8) Held up towards rear, closer in mid-division after 5th, chased leaders 3 out, weakened before next, 10th of 12, 27 3/4l behind Dell' Arca (10-10) at Newbury 3m hcp (2) gd in Nov.
No Comment 18-1 (11-4) Held up, pushed along after 3 out, hampered and left in fifth 2 out, unable to challenge, 5th of 9, 9l behind Teescomponents Lad (10-9) at Market Rasen 2m 7f hcp (2) gd in Nov.
Deniliquin (IRE) 11-4fav (11-5) Hit 1st, tracked winner, effort before 2 out, ridden and readily outpaced by impressive winner between last 2, no chance after, lost 2 places near finish, 4th of 6, 23 1/2l behind Torpillo (11-5) at Sandown 2m (2) hvy in Dec.
Dans Le Vent (FR) 14-1 (11-1) Held up in touch, mistake 3 out, chased winner before next, about 1 length down when not fluent last, held flat, 2nd of 9, 2 1/4l behind Valdez (12-0) at Hereford 2m 5f hcp (3) sft in Nov.
Thinking (IRE) 28-1 (10-4) Held up in mid-division, not fluent 4th, hung left and weakened after 3 out, pulled up before last, at Cheltenham 2m hcp (1) sft in Nov.
Chambard (FR) 6-1 (11-5) Close up, led narrowly 4th, hit 8th and headed, pushed along and lost ground 11th, in rear 12th and quickly tailed off, pulled up before 4 out, at Carlisle 2m 4f hcp (3) hvy in Nov.
Endlessly (IRE) 28-1 (10-6) Held up, modest headway when ridden before 3 out, well adrift before 2 out, pulled up, at Haydock 2m 3f hcp (2) sft in Nov.
