held up in touch, lost place and under pressure 5th, jumped slowly next, tailed off from 8th
tracked leaders, ridden to challenge approaching 3 out, chasing winner, outpaced from next, kept on to take 2nd close home, no chance with winner
held up in rear, headway before 3 out, chased winner 2 out, lost 2nd close home
pulled hard in 2nd, settled after 3rd, mistake 7th, led on bit after 9th, not fluent 2 out, clear approaching last, eased flat
led, mistake 8th, headed after next, weakening when fell 2 out
A trappy contest this and Helen Wood, who goes on most ground, can just edge it from Gentle John. The David Pipe-trained selection acts well over anything from this trip to two and a half miles. She rarely fails to give her running, although perhaps she was tried too highly last time, but her previous couple of runs give her a big chance here and she can defy topweight. Gentle John suffered for a Ludlow win in January when looking in the grip of the handicapper last time. He handles all types of ground, but he may need a drop in the weights before winning. William Bonney's claims would be enhanced by a win for Pauillac in the previous race on the card, but he has a bit to prove after a couple of hefty defeats and both Mibleu and Orpen Wide look to have plenty of weight for what they have achieved, so Helen Wood gets the nod.
Helen Wood 7-1 (10-0) Mid-division, not fluent 2nd, lost place 4th, mistake 5th, struggling 7th, tailed off when pulled up 5 out in race won by Howle Hill (11-4) at Doncaster 2m hcp chs (2) gd in Feb, 11 ran.
Orpen Wide (IRE) 50-1 (11-0) Chased leader until after 2nd, dropped to last by next, mistake 7th, behind from next, 4th of 6, well behind Kruguyrova (10-9) at Warwick 2m nov chs Grd 2 (1) gs in Feb.
William Bonney (IRE) 11-8fav (11-0) Held up, mistake 2nd, headway approaching 4 out, ridden after 2 out, weakened flat, 4th of 6, 16l behind Presenting Copper (10-7) at Warwick 2m beg chs (4) sft in Dec.
Gentle John (FR) 4-1 (10-10) Led, hit 2nd, ridden and headed approaching 3 out, soon beaten, 2nd of 6, 14l behind Pur De Sivola (10-13) at Wincanton 2m nov hcp chs (2) gs in Jan.
Mibleu (FR) 5-1 (11-12) Led, headed before 5th, remained prominent, weakened before 3 out, 8th of 11, 32l behind Zorro De La Vega (11-2) at Leicester 2m nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gd in Dec.
