held up, headway to chase leader 3 out, soon ridden and weakened before 2 out
not fluent towards rear, driven along and no chance before 2 out
led to 7th, weakened after 8th, soon well behind
held up mid-division, chased leaders 3 out, ridden and hampered bend before 2 out, mistake 2 out, beaten when blundered badly last
held up behind, ridden and outpaced after 6th, modest late progress from 2 out, never dangerous
towards rear, headway before 2 out to chase winner, led last, soon headed flat, not pace of winner
tracked leaders, led 7th, headed after 8th, gradually weakened
not fluent in mid-division, stayed on from 2 out, never dangerous
in rear, never dangerous
steadied start and held up in rear, blundered 1st, headway and going well, led 2 out, ran green approaching last and headed, rallied flat and soon led again, comfortably
close up until weakened after 3 out
behind, chased leaders 7th, led after 8th, headed 2 out, one pace afterwards
in touch until weakened after 7th
behind, never in challenging position
prominent, blundered 2nd, lost place 4th, beaten after 6th
The ones that catch the eye here are Saint Par, Lotus des Pictons, Croix de Guerre, Florida Dream and, possibly, Dolmur, with the vote going to Lotus des Pictons. The Martin Pipe-trained selection put in a fair effort at Cheltenham last time on his first run in nearly a year. Given that he was a decent novice the season before, and that he might appreciate the drop from the three-mile trip on that occasion, points to him running a good race. Florida Dream has certainly inherited some of his brother Florida Pearl's talent, displaying it to good effect at Haydock Park last time. He left a very good impression on that occasion and it is only with reluctance he was not given the nod, particularly given that a six-pound rise for that win looks very fair. Saint Par has been raised seven pounds for a Leicester success, which again looks reasonable given that he will prefer today's going plus the step up in trip. Afford him a chance, as you should Croix de Guerre, who has proven that he can go well in big handicaps, as evidenced by his fourth in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle. Finally, if you take Dolmur's novice form literally - he was 14 lengths behind Astronomic at Sedgefield and just over six behind Coat Of Honour at Musselburgh, then he too can be given some sort of chance. Overall, though we are just going to side with Lotus des Pictons.
