held up in touch, lost place from 4 out
behind, headway before 4 out, soon chased winner, kept on and held towards finish
led to 4th, led again 7 out, headed 5 out, one pace from 3 out
held up in rear, weakened from 5 out, tailed off
tracked leader, led 4th, headed 7 out, led again 5 out, ridden before 3 out, held on towards finish, driven out
tracked leaders, reminders 2nd, ridden 4 out, one pace from next
NET WORK ROUGE jumped beautifully from the front here when undeservedly reeled in late on recently and a similar round of fencing over a shorter trip can see him go one better under regular pilot David Bass. A 5lb rise for a defeat seems harsh but hopefully he can go one better in an admittedly tougher contest. Royalraise always seems to run his race and has gained his sole career success at this venue when hurdling and seems sure to be in the shake-up. Cusheen Bridge lacks any fencing experience and the main danger to the selection is definitely Manhattan Swing - at least if he transfer his hurdling ability to fences as he makes his chasing debut. The Ellison charge, a dual course winner, is a talented handicap hurdler at his best and has achieved all four career success when the ground is good. He's a real threat.
Cusheen Bridge (IRE) 33-1 (10-9) Chased leaders until 7th, soon behind, pulled up before 2 out, at Huntingdon 2m 4f hcp (2) gs in Feb.
Manhattan Swing (IRE) 25-1 (11-1) Held up towards rear, ridden and no impression 3 out, never involved, 9th of 16, 16 1/2l behind Gwafa (11-0) at Haydock 2m hcp (1) gd in May.
Net Work Rouge (FR) 4-1 (11-8) Led, driven clear 3 out, 3 lengths advantage when not fluent last, edged left when ridden and idled flat, soon headed, kept on towards finish, just held, 2nd of 6, nk behind Baku Bay (11-8) at Market Rasen 3m hcp (4) gd in May.
Royal Benifet (IRE) 5-1 (12-0) (bl) prsd ldrs to 15; wknd 2 out, 4th of 9, 22 1/4l behind Merrydown Vintage (12-0) at Kingston Blount 3m gd in May.
Royalraise (IRE) 9-4fav (11-5) Led, not fluent 9th, ridden when pecked 4 out, 4 lengths clear flat, got very weary and headed close home, 2nd of 5, 3/4l behind Wild Rover (11-1) at Ludlow 3m hcp (3) gd in May.
Western Jo (IRE) 8-1 (11-11) Held up towards rear, headway before 3 out in 3rd place, kept on to take 2nd place run-in, 2nd of 6, 9l behind No No Mac (11-12) at Market Rasen 3m hcp (3) gd in May.
