tracked leaders, jumped right 1st, blundered 8th, soon weakened
tracked leaders, led 3 out, driven out
chased leader, hampered 1st, led 8th, headed 5 out, one pace
in rear, headway 10th, led next, headed 3 out, one pace
held up, ridden over 4 out, never dangerous
tracked leaders, weakened 4 out
led, headed 8th, weakened next
held up, outpaced approaching 9th
All eight go to post with claims and none more so than Randwick Roar who looks certain to be racing from a higher mark in future. We're going to take him on though with Our Jasper. The selection was out of his depth last time and beaten on merit at Market Rasen prior to that. That race may just have been a shade more competitive than this one though and he's unexposed after just 6 starts. The return to racing on better ground will also suit and he won here in December so there are plenty of positives. Randwick Roar has obvious claims but with doubts about both the suitability of the trip and the ground we'd rather be against him than with him at a short price and he did have a fairly hard race. Classic Capers and Alfadora are others for whom the trip may be too short and it could be too far for Yankee Holiday. Eborarry and Oso Magic haven't won for a while although the latter shaped a little better last time but Marked Man looks too high in the weights. Our Jasper has more in his favour than most and will do for us.
Our Jasper 13-2 (11-2) Chased leaders, ridden after 6th, weakened 9th, 5th of 6, 40l behind Pur De Sivola (10-13) at Wincanton 2m nov hcp chs (2) gs in Jan.
Randwick Roar (IRE) 2-1fav (11-1) Held towards rear, hard driven and headway approaching 3 out, led 2 out, headed after last, kept on strongly, 2nd of 6, hd behind The Hairy Lemon (11-12) at Kempton 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (3) gd.
Marked Man (IRE) 15-2 (11-9) Mid-division, led 11th, headed 15th, weakening when blundered 3 out, 5th of 11, 10l behind Comber (10-6) at Ludlow 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft.
Classic Capers 16-1 (10-12) Held up, headway 6 out, weakened from 2 out, 8th of 19, 21l behind King Harald (11-8) at Doncaster 4m hcp chs 0-140 (2) gd.
Oso Magic 15-2 (11-2) Held up in touch, led 11th, ridden approaching 3 out, headed 2 out, one pace, 3rd of 8, 9l behind Primus Inter Pares (10-7) at Catterick 2m 3f hcp chs 0-120 (3) sft.
Alfadora 8-1 (10-1) Held up in rear, hit 4th, headway 9th, soon ridden, weakened after 3 out, 4th of 12, 31l behind Scots Dragoon (10-4) at Fakenham 2m 7f hcp hdl 0-115 (4) gd.
Yankee Holiday (IRE) 4-1 (10-5) Led, headed 6th, ridden 8th and kept on one pace, 3rd of 6, 5l behind Shares (10-8) at Musselburgh 2m hcp chs 0-125 (3) gs in Dec.
Eborarry (IRE) 12-1 (10-10) Held up towards rear, weakened 9th, 5th of 9, 17l behind Cadoulitique (10-11) at Leicester 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) gs.