in touch, effort when left 3rd 2 out, soon ridden, kept on same pace flat
prominent, headway 10th, lost place 12th rallied 3 out, 2 lengths down in 3rd when fell next
in touch, effort approaching 3 out, left 4th next, kept on same pace
made all, ridden last, held on gamely flat
in touch, pushed along 12th, weakened from 3 out
tracked winner throughout, challenged 2 out, ridden and kept on flat, held towards finish
Minster Abbi was a well beaten second behind the odds on Jaunty Flight at Carlisle earlier this month and while she has every chance in this poor looking novices' handicap chase, Richard Ford's mare may be a shade high in the weights at present and preference is for SABREFLIGHT, who gets the verdict ahead of Polobury. The last mentioned has shown signs of encouragement of late and Heather Graham's mare has to be respected but she has yet to open her account after 16 starts and may be best watched. Irish point-to-point winner Baker Flinn has yet to show a similar level of form over regulation fences, while Treasured Memories has been well beaten in recent starts and looks best left out of calculations. Ikemba needs to improve on all known form and a better bet looks to be Sabreflight. The daughter of Sabrehill faced a near impossible task behind Phardessa in a novices' chase at Chepstow last time and she should appreciate the return to handicap-company this afternoon. Well treated on the pick of her form and with ground conditions to suit Sabreflight looks the one to be on.
Minster Abbi 17-2 (10-5) Led, headed approaching 3 out, soon beaten, mistake next, 2nd of 4, 23l behind Jaunty Flight (10-6) at Carlisle 3m nov chs (3) hvy.
Treasured Memories 9-1 (10-10) Towards rear, blundered 4th, soon detached, 6th of 9, well behind Sammy Spiderman (10-0) at Ayr 2m 5f nov hcp chs (4) hvy in Dec.
Polobury 6-1 (11-1) Chased leaders, driven and outpaced 4 out, no impression when not fluent next, soon weakened, 4th of 7, 24l behind Vicario (11-5) at Ayr 3m hcp hdl 0-95 (5) sft.
Sabreflight 16-1 (10-7) Led, headed after 2nd, hit 11th, weakened 5 out, 3rd of 4, well behind Phardessa (11-1) at Chepstow 3m mrs nov chs (4) sft in Feb.
Baker Flinn (IRE) 25-1 (11-2) Always towards rear, tailed off when pulled up 3 out in race won by Snowy (11-11) at Musselburgh 3m hcp chs 0-95 (5) gf, 13 ran.
Ikemba (IRE) 16-1 (12-5) (ts) t.o & pulled up in race won by Amicelli (12-5) at Bangor 3m ptp hvy in Jan, 12 ran.
