in rear, pushed along before 4th, soon struggling and tailed off when pulled up before 9th
made all, ridden before 2 out, pressed from last, all out
tracked leaders, blundered 9th, soon weakened, tailed off, pulled up before 3 out
tracked winner, not fluent 8th, ridden before 2 out, soon lost 2nd place and weakened
held up in touch, headway before 3 out, challenged 2 out, upsides winner when fell last
held up in touch, not fluent 10th, soon outpaced, headway before 2 out, left 2nd at last, kept on and no extra towards finish
Nonrunner
This is a tough one to call, though That's The Deal will be carrying 5lb more than his allotted weight. Dashing George was unplaced at Newbury on Saturday and had a hard race while Balzaccio has had another three months off since making a fair reappearance after injury over hurdles at Wincanton. Galway Jack is still 8lb higher than his last winning mark, though wasn't beaten far at Fakenham in January. Billy Cuckoo is a course and distance winner and scored at Doncaster last month. But he ran no sort of race at Leicester subsequently. Arthur's Pass and GREEN WIZARD are potentially the best handicapped horses in the race and we'll take a chance on the latter returning to last year's form with a drop back in distance likely to suit.
Dashing George (IRE) 10-1 (10-2) Led until 4th, chased leader, led again 8th, headed 11th, chased winner until 3 out (normal 4 out), chased leaders until weakened bypassing omitted 3 out, 6th of 7, 25l behind Shangani (10-12) at Newbury 2m 4f hcp chs G3 (1) hvy.
Galway Jack (IRE) 4-1 (11-12) Led, clear 2nd, went right 4 out, headed approaching 2 out, chased leader, ridden and staying on same pace about 2 lengths down when left disputing lead and hampered last, soon headed and stayed on same pace, 2nd of 6, 1 1/4l behind Presented (10-5) at Fakenham 3m hcp chs 0-130 (3) hvy in Jan.
Arthur's Pass 28-1 (11-6) Held up towards rear, blundered 7 out, pulled up before 5 out, in a race won by Golden Call (11-3) at Doncaster 3m hcp chs 0-135 (3) gs in Feb, 8 ran.
Billy Cuckoo (IRE) 16-1 (11-1) Held up, pushed along after 5th, behind from 7th, pulled up before last, in a race won by Rydalis (10-10) at Leicester 2m 4f hcp chs 0-140 (3) sft in Feb, 6 ran.
Green Wizard (IRE) 9-2 (11-2) With leader, led 1st, headed 13th, weakened before 4 out, pulled up before next, in a race won by Rose Of The Moon (11-12) at Wetherby 3m 1f hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft in Jan, 7 ran.
Balzaccio (FR) 10-1 (11-2) Mid-division on outside, hit 7th, headway 3 out, ridden before 2 out, stayed on same pace, left 3rd last, 3rd of 12, 14l behind Carrigmorna King (11-5) at Wincanton 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-135 (3) gd in Nov.
That's The Deal (IRE) 9-1 (9-10) In rear, pushed along 8th, struggling 10th, tailed off and pulled up before 14th, in a race won by Presented (10-5) at Fakenham 3m hcp chs 0-130 (3) hvy in Jan, 6 ran.
