held up, headway approaching 4th, challenged 7th, led next, hedaed 9th, blundered 11th, weakened before 5 out, tailed off
led until 4th, led when not fluent next, hedaed 7th, jumped slowly 7th, lost place and ridden 10th, weakened after 11th, soon pulled up
held up, not fluent 4th, headway 6th, mistake next, 4th and one pace before last, went 3rd flat
tracked leaders, switched right after 3 out, mistake and no extra next
held up, hit 4th, headway approaching 5 out, hit 3 out, went 2nd after next, stayed on flat, unable to close gap to winner
tracked leaders, challenged 6th, led approaching 5 out, hedaed 3 out, 3rd and looking held when bad mistake last, weakened into 4th flat
pressed leader, jumped left 1st, led 4th, headed next, led 9th, headed before 5 out, soon weakened, pulled up after
mid-division, headway 7th, not much room 8th, led 3 out, driven out
A few of these have questions to answer today, not least CURRENT EVENT. He was taking on better opposition at Wincanton after a break, however, and has the beating of Niceonefrankie on their run together at Kempton in November so gets a tentative vote. Hell's Bay, Triptico and Oldrik were others pulled up on their latest outing but As De Fer can run well fresh and the soft ground shouldn't be a problem. Cadoudalas was second at Ludlow last month but still beaten almost 40 lengths and he'll need to improve on that to go one better here.
As De Fer (FR) 6-1 (11-2) Held up behind, headway 8th, weakened before 2 out, 12th of 19, well behind Grand Vision (10-3) at Haydock 3m hcp hdl (2) hvy in Feb '12.
Current Event (FR) 13-2 (10-12) Held up towards rear, struggling 10th, pulled up before 12th, in a race won by Big Fella Thanks (11-12) at Wincanton 2m 5f hcp chs 0-145 (2) sft in Jan, 10 ran.
Niceonefrankie 7-1 (10-9) Towards rear, headway before 10th, mistake 12th, not fluent and chased winner before 2 out, no impression, 2nd of 10, 19l behind Ballynagour (10-0) at Warwick 2m 4f hcp chs 0-150 (2) sft in Feb.
Hell's Bay (FR) 33-1 (10-1) Always towards rear, weakened 3 out, soon pulled up, in a race won by Katenko (10-13) at Cheltenham 2m 5f hcp chs G3 (1) hvy in Jan, 16 ran.
Triptico (FR) 5-1 (11-4) Held up towards rear, mistakes, hit 5 out, soon well beaten, pulled up before next, in a race won by Handtheprizeover (9-8) at Doncaster 3m hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft in Dec, 11 ran.
Cadoudalas (FR) 8-1 (11-1) Chased leaders, challenged 10th, led 12th, headed 4 out, no extra from 2 out, 2nd of 8, 37l behind Grandioso (11-11) at Ludlow 2m 4f hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft in Feb.
Oldrik (GER) 22-1 (11-7) Tracked leaders, not fluent 7th, under pressure when mistake 9th, behind from 11th, soon pulled up, in a race won by Triptico (11-2) at Chepstow 2m 3f hcp chs 0-130 (3) hvy in Dec, 10 ran.
Kilcrea Asla (IRE) 20-1 (11-2) Mid-division, pushed along 7th, soon beaten, 7th of 9, 47l behind Sir Du Bearn (11-11) at Stratford 2m 5f hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft in Oct.
