made all, ridden clear over 2f out, unchallenged
in touch, ridden 5f out, outpaced over 3, stayed on to chase clear winner final furlong
tracked leaders until weakened quickly halfway, tailed off
towards rear, weakened quickly 7f out, tailed off
in touch and keen hold, steady headway 6f out, chased winner over 3, weakened approaching 1f out
tracked leaders, ridden and weakened over 4f out
mid-division, ridden 6f out, weakened 3f out
prominent till ridden and weakened 5f out
tracked leaders, ridden over 3f out, weakened soon after
tracked leaders and keen hold, ridden and weakened over 4f out
held up towards rear, headway 6f out to track leaders, ridden and weakened over 2f
held at rear, headway 6f out, ridden to chase leaders over 3f out, weakened final 2f
There are a number of interesting runners in this 14-furlong bumper but, bearing in mind that the betting should always be observed in these types of races, we like the look of My Pal Val ahead of Flying Falcon, Lord Brock, Hired Gun and Cream Cracker. The selection catches the eye because she is trained by Gold Cup winning trainer Henrietta Knight and is by Classic Cliche out of a four-time winning hurdler. Unless the betting says something markedly different, she might be worth taking a chance on. Despite being nine pounds better off at the weights, Cream Cracker showed promise but finished around 18 lengths behind Flying Falcon at Wincanton on his debut. In fairness, that was not a particularly strong affair so the winner there could be vulnerable here, although this too is not a race with a great deal of strength in depth. The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Lord Brock is another of interest as he is by the Champion Hurdle winner Alderbrook out of a six-time winning hurdler. Watch the market for clues with regard to this one, as you should with regard to Victor Dartnall's Hired Gun, as his stable has done quite well in these types of events this season. However, at this point we will side with Henrietta Knight's My Pal Val.
