mid-division, headway 3rd, led approaching next, ridden and headed 3 out, rallied to lead last, ran on
held up, headway approaching 5th, ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened
behind, headway 5th, ridden approaching 2 out, weakened approaching last
mid-division, headway 4th, ridden approaching 2 out, weakened approaching last
prominent, led 3rd to 4th, ridden 5th, weakened next
tracked leaders, led 3 out, ridden and headed last, no extra
in touch, lost place approaching 5th, soon behind
led 2nd to 3rd, behind from next, tailed off 3 out
always behind
led to 2nd, stayed prominent, ridden approaching 3 out, weakened last
always behind
chased leaders to 4th, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
A very poor seller where caution is advised, and Dabarpour should be just about good enough from top weight Better Moment. The selection looks pretty well in at the weights, though these animals are not renowned for their consistency. The John O'Shea-trained gelding has not won since landing a Warwick handicap hurdle over a year ago, and having been as high as 109 on official ratings at one stage, he is now fully 12lbs below that and well capable of landing this sort of race. Effective over both the trip and on the ground, he is taken to score. Martin Pipe has the top two in the weights here and the highest of those, Better Moment is likely to be the selection's main challenger. The six-year-old has taken his time to drop down the ratings, having not won for 12 months himself, but back on a favourable mark and with trip and going in his favour too, he can put up a decent showing and chase home the selection. Pipe's other runner, Douceur Des Songes needs to improve a little even to win this poor race, but is not without hope of a place, while Ghutah returns to selling company after a decent break from the hurdles and although he would have to run a lifetime best to win, he too is no forlorn hope as far as the frame is concerned. However, we will stick with Dabarpour.
