led, ridden and headed approaching 2 out, soon beaten
held up, headway 7th, led approaching 2 out, ridden clear approaching last, eased towards finish
chased leaders, weakened 3 out
chased leaders, went 2nd at 6th until 10th, in 4th and beaten when blundered 3 out
towards rear, hit 3rd, reminders after 4th, ridden after 9th, soon weakened, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
with leader to 5th, weakened next, tailed off when pulled up before 11th
held up, lost place 10th, blundered next, quickly pulled up before 12th
This is a competitive handicap chase with Noisetine, Spring Lover, No Visibility and Ross Comm all in with a chance, however our pick is Spring Lover for the in-form Venetia Williams stable. He showed his liking for this trip last time out at Ludlow when a length behind Bob The Builder in a handicap chase. The third place horse that day Winsley runs on Friday at Newbury and if he runs a good race that form will be boosted further. He gets weight from the other main selections and with his stable in cracking form he is tipped to run a good race. A case can be made for the other Venetia Williams-trained runner Noisetine who was a course and distance winner here last April. He has since been firmly in the handicapper¿s, unrelenting grip and it would appear he has too much to do here off top-weight. No Visibility was scoring for the first time in two-years when winning at Wincanton last time. He will like the ground and the trip and he cannot be ruled out. The Sue Smith-trained Ross Comm won the valuable Cumbrian Chase at Carlisle last October. That was over three miles and two furlongs and his last run suggested that he might be more suited to longer distances. Spring Lover gets a tentative vote to win this competitive chase.
Noisetine (FR) 20-1 (11-9) With leaders to 3rd, ridden and lost place 6th, struggling 8th, tailed off when pulled up 5 out in race won by Wain Mountain (10-8) at Lingfield 2m 4f hcp chs (2) sft in Jan, 6 ran.
Ross Comm 4-5fav (11-3) Tracked leaders, went 2nd 5th, outpaced 3 out, soon ridden and no impression, 3rd of 8, 19l behind Silver Sedge (10-1) at Newcastle 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-110 (4) hvy.
Edmo Yewkay (IRE) 14-1 (11-0) Chased leaders to approaching 9th, tailed off when pulled up 3 out in race won by Our Armageddon (11-2) at Uttoxeter 2m 6f hcp chs (2) hvy in Feb, 13 ran.
No Visibility (IRE) 11-2 (11-4) Prominent, led on bit 5 out, left clear last, eased flat, won at Wincanton 2m 5f hcp chs 0-125 (3) sft beating Runner Bean (11-1) by 29l, 8 ran.
Spring Lover (FR) 14-1 (11-9) Mid-division, headway 10th, hit last, not quicken flat, 2nd of 12, 1l behind Bob The Builder (11-6) at Ludlow 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (3) gf in Feb.
Mistral De La Cour (FR) 50-1 (9-11) Prominent, blundered 2nd, weakened after 4 out, tailed off from next, 6th of 10, well behind Kalca Mome (10-12) at Haydock 2m hcp chs (2) hvy in Feb.
Family Venture (IRE) 7-2jt-fav (10-13) Held up in touch, disputing poor 3rd 6 out, weakened 4 out, hit next, 4th of 8, 35l behind Itsonlyme (11-1) at Doncaster 3m hcp chs 0-130 (C) gd in Jan '05.
