never travelling in rear, tailed off and pulled up before13th
chased leaders until 9th, soon lost touch, stayed on again 3 out
held up, headway 11th, went 3rd briefly 13th, pecked next, soon ridden, weakened
held up, smooth headway from 11th, tracked leader from 13th, led 2 out, easily
in touch, reminders after 9th, soon behind
led at good pace, blundered 13th, ridden and headed 2 out, kept on, but always held by winner
chased leaders, not fluent 8th, ridden after 4 out, kept on same pace
Nonrunner
An interesting handicap in which the vote goes to Spring Lover ahead of Sky Warrior, Uncle Wallace, Saucy Night and, possibly, Mr Fluffy. If you work on literal form with Tregastel then the selection has around four lengths to find with Uncle Wallace. However, Spring Lover may have run below par on his latest start - on which we are basing the Tregastel form - as it came hot on the heels of his previous outing. There is no doubt that he left a good impression when winning at Ludlow in January and, having had a break since his last outing, might be able to pick up the winning threads again. Whilst it is difficult to fully assess Uncle Wallace's Kempton win last time, he looks to be getting it together now and is respected. Sky Warrior is only two pound above a winning mark and he may well have needed his latest two runs, so afford him respect too, and Saucy Night has improved markedly since racing without shoes and another good run is on the cards from this now-consistent type. Turning to the others and Monte Cristo may have been freshened up by a break now, Mr Fluffy won a muddling affair at Kempton last time so is hard to fully rate, and there is no doubt that Tom Costalot has a very good chance on his form of old, but, much as he ran pretty well last time - and the form has been franked - he needs to better his overall form of late to score. In what is, then, as we say, an interesting race, we turn again to the selection, which is Spring Lover.
Monte Cristo (FR) 14-1 Prominent, hampered 3rd, ridden and weakened approaching 3 out, tailed off, last of 6, well behind Kandjar D'allier at Windsor 2m 4f hcp chs 0-125 (D) sft in Dec.
Sky Warrior (FR) 16-1 Tracked leaders, lost place 3rd, mistake 7th, soon lost touch, 4th of 5, well behind Broadbrook Lass at Uttoxeter 2m 6f hcp chs 0-125 (D) hvy in Jan.
Uncle Wallace 11-4 Held up in touch, closed up 11th, tracked leading pair after 4 out, led 2 out, driven and in command before last, soon clear, eased near finish, won at Kempton 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (C) sft in Feb beating Tregastel by 9l, 4 ran.
Spring Lover (FR) 9-4 Led until mistake and headed 3rd, blundered next, led again 7th, not fluent 9th, headed after 3 out, no chance with winner from next, 2nd of 4, 11l behind Tregastel at Plumpton 2m 4f hcp chs 0-125 (D) sft in Jan.
Tom Costalot (IRE) 11-2 Chased leaders, challenged 12th to 4 out, chased leading pair under pressure and outpaced next, stayed on flat, 3rd of 8, 11l behind Banker Count at Kempton 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (C) gs in Feb.
Saucy Night 7-2 Chased leader, headway and led after 5 out, mistake and headed 2 out, rallied and ran on well flat, just failed, 2nd of 10, shd behind Almost Broke at Wincanton 2m 5f hcp chs 0-120 (D) gs in Feb.
Lucky Leader (IRE) 12-1 Held up towards rear, some headway 17th, weakened 4 out, 5th of 8, 29l behind Earl's Kitchen at Chepstow 3m 2f hcp chs 0-125 (D) gs in Feb.
Mr Fluffy 5-1 Held up and in rear in touch, mistake 4th, led 8th, pressed before 3 out, led before 2 out, hit last, ridden clear flat, won at Kempton 3m beg chs (D) gd in Nov beating Champagne Harry by 6l, 5 ran.
