held up, headway 6th, ridden 3 out, soon weakened
held up, ridden and weakened 6th, pulled up 2 out
held up, ridden after 4th, soon outpaced, 5th and behind 2 out, headway well over 1 out, ridden to lead last, driven out
soon behind, ridden 3rd, tailed off when pulled up 3 out
chased leaders, ridden and weakened 6th
pulled hard, soon chased leader, ridden and every chance 3 out, weakened after next
raced keenly, led, hit 4th, ridden and headed 2 out, soon weakened
It's very difficult to find anything positive to say about this bunch of runners in what is a desperately poor seller, but we must pick something and the vote goes to Approaching Land, ahead of Needwood Spirit, Ethan Snowflake and Trackattack. Admittedly, the going may not be ideal for the selection, whose form suggests that he appears to prefer genuine good ground, but he acts over the minimum trip and he is now 8lb below when finishing runner up here over 2m 4f in November, which gives him a clear opportunity. Ethan Snowflake has to shoulder top weight and does have a c&d win on good to soft to his name, so he gets conditions to suit. However, he has struggled since that win 15 months ago, including back over c&d off this same mark of 89 last time, so it is hard to be over enthusiastic. Needwood Spirit is another course and distance scorer on good to soft, but that was almost five years ago. The veteran continues to show occasional bits of form and has plummeted in the weights, so he is not totally written off. Meanwhile Trackattack was a fast ground selling winner at Beverley last year, and showed a glimpse of form here in December, but needs to show more to be a serious contender for victory honours here. An awful race then, and we take Approaching Land to score.
Ethan Snowflake 25-1 (11-3) Mid-division, weakened approaching 3 out, 10th of 12, well behind Beau Torero (10-10) at Fakenham 2m cnd hcp hdl 0-100 (4) gd in Jan.
Trackattack 100-1 (10-5) Held up in rear, ridden and some headway 2 out, never nearer, 5th of 14, 17l behind Prize Fighter (10-12) at Fakenham 2m 3yo mdn hdl (E) gd in Dec.
Approaching Land (IRE) 25-1 (11-0) Mid-division, ridden 2 out, never on terms, 9th of 18, 26l behind Colway Ritz (10-9) at Catterick 2m sll hcp hdl 0-90 (5) gd in Jan.
Simiola 100-1 (10-10) Mid-division, headway 5th, weakening when mistake 3 out, 13th of 17, well behind Ambersong (11-13) at Ludlow 2m sll hdl (5) gf.
Needwood Spirit 12-1 (9-11) Chased leaders, lost place 3rd, headway and disputing 4th when badly hampered and unseated rider 3 out in race won by Imperial Royale (11-1) at Leicester 2m ldy hcp hdl (4) gd, 9 ran.
Dargin's Lass (IRE) 100-1 (10-8) Led to 5th, soon weakened, 9th of 15, well behind Queen's Dancer (10-5) at Towcester 2m nov hdl (4) gs.
Purr 33-1 (10-2) Always behind, 9th of 12, 32l behind Irish Blessing (11-6) at Leicester 2m sll hcp hdl 0-90 (5) sft in Jan.
Ray Mond 150-1 (10-13) Always behind, 7th of 9, well behind Unjust Law (11-1) at Fakenham 2m nh nov hdl (4) gd in Jan.
