raced keenly, waited with in rear, headway chasing leaders 4 out, ridden and weakened before the last
raced on inside, soon chasing leaders, ridden and weakened quickly soon after 3 out, tailed off
wore hood to post, raced wide chasing leaders, weakened after 3 out
chased leaders out wide, ridden before 2 out, still pressing when not fluent last, stayed on run-in, always held
led until 3rd, chased leader, led again before 4 out, ridden and narrowly headed home turn, pressed winner and every chance 2 out and last, strong challenge under pressure run-in, always just held
chased leaders, led before 3rd until before 4 out, chased leaders, weakened quickly next
chased leaders until lost place 5th, soon towards rear, tailed off and pulled up before 3 out
held up and off the pace, good headway on inside chasing leaders before 4 out, weakened approaching 2 out
held up off the pace in last pair, headway chasing leaders 4 out, went 2nd next, led narrowly home turn, strongly pressed run-in, battled on gamely all the way to the line
NonRunner
The unbeaten Lady Adare has had plenty of entries lately so has to be respected if finally turning up here. Throne Hall won his first two starts over hurdles but was well beaten on soft ground at Kempton on Boxing Day. Forever William has placed in a Grade 1 but has become hard to place but American Sniper probably has place claims dipping a toe into handicap company. SAYADAM (NAP) is 3-5 over hurdles and has a perfect record on soft going so will probably hard to beat again if refreshed from a short break.
The Pink'n 40-1 (9-7) Held up in 6th on inside, weakened and behind final 3f, last of 8, 13 1/2l behind Tudor (9-6) at Lingfield 1m 4f hcp (4) pol in Dec.
Lieutenant Rocco (IRE) 20-1 (11-12) Chased leaders, not fluent 2nd, pressed leaders from 11th, led narrowly after 4 out, headed 3 out and pushed along, ridden after 2 out, weakened last, 5th of 9, 16 3/4l behind Foxboro (10-12) at Fontwell 2m 6f hcp (3) gd in Dec.
Lady Adare (IRE) 1-4fav (11-12) Raced keenly, led until 6th, led 3 out, clear 2 out, mistake last, ridden out, comfortably, won at Taunton 2m 3f (4) gs in Feb beating Peerless Beauty (11-0) by 16l, 7 ran.
Sayadam (FR) 5-2fav (12-0) Towards rear, smooth headway 3 out, ridden 2 out, disputed lead and sustained challenge run in, kept on, just got up, won at Fontwell 2m 3f hcp (3) sft in Nov beating Franco D'Aunou (11-10) by ns, 6 ran.
American Sniper (IRE) 7-4 (11-12) Chased leader until approaching 3 out, chased leaders, ridden and outpaced before next, rallied into modest 3rd at the last, 3rd of 9, 17 1/2l behind Lallygag (11-12) at Taunton 2m 3f (4) gd in Dec.
Yes No Maybe So (IRE) 28-1 (11-6) Pressed leader until 2 out, chased leaders, stayed on same pace in 3rd, no chance with winner, 3rd of 6, 5 1/2l behind Lightly Squeeze (11-11) at Kempton 2m hcp (3) sft in Nov.
Throne Hall 18-1 (11-10) Chased leading pair on inside until pushed along home turn, weakened and bad mistake 2 out, left remote 4t at the last, 4th of 10, dist behind Rare Edition (11-10) at Kempton 2m (2) sft in Dec.
Quoi De Neuf (FR) 9-1 (11-12) Pressed leader and clear of field, led 3rd, pushed along and headed before 3 out, well held when mistake and lost 2nd at the last, weakened run-in, 4th of 6, 7 1/4l behind Midnight Midge (11-0) at Taunton 2m 2f hcp (3) gd in Dec.
Forever William 12-1 (11-1) Chased leader until 2nd, prominent in chasing group, went 2nd again 6th, chased new leaders at the last (normal 2 out) lost 2nd home turn, weakened extended run-in, 5th of 10, 17 1/2l behind Unanswered (10-5) at Cheltenham 2m 5f hcp (3) gd in Nov.
Rouge Vif (FR) 22-1 (11-12) Chased leader, raced keenly, pressed leader after 3 out, driven along after last (usual 2 out), soon weakened, last of 9, 15 3/4l behind Punctuation (10-12) at Cheltenham 2m 1f hcp (3) gd in Dec.
