in touch, ridden along 7th, kept on under pressure from 2 out but no danger,
held up, headway approaching 2 out, ridden and beaten when mistake last, weakened flat
pulled up, led mistake and headed 5th, behind from 8th, tailed off when pulled up before last, finished lame
prominent until weakened quickly after 2 out
held up, steady headway from 7th, not fluent 2 out, led approaching last, drew clear flat
prominent, hit 7th driven to go 2nd last, no extra flat
started slowly, always behind, tailed off when pulled up before last
chased leader, every chance 2 out, onepaced between last 2
towards rear, ridden along from 6th, stayed on under pressure after 2 out, took modest 2nd flat, no chance with winner
always in rear, driven from 6th, tailed off
towards rear, ridden and lost place 7th, tailed off
mid-division, good headway 3 out, led 2 out, headed when mistake last, weakened flat
behind, mistake 4th, steady headway 7th, every chance 2 out, weakened rapidly
mistakes 1st in mid-division, weakened 8th, tailed off when pulled up before last
prominent, led 5th, mistake next, headed 2 out, weakened rapidly, tailed off when pulled up before last
The one time useful Colonial Rule has been on a downward curve for some time now and, unless there is significant market support for Jonjo O'Neill's gelding, he is probably best left out of calculations. Backview, who has the beating of Jonjo's gelding on running at Warwick last time has gone up another 4lbs in the weights for his second to Standing Bloom and, with further improvement unlikely at the age of 11, he would appear plenty high enough in the weights now. Topweight Blasket Sound ran as well as could have been expected when chasing home Beyond Control (handicap winner since) in a seller over course and distance last month. A 2lb rise since looks harsh. The booking of the in form Timmy Murphy for Diorama takes the eye, while the lightly raced King Triton from the stable of Lawrence Wells is less exposed than many of his rivals and could be well treated on his handicap debut. However, for the selection we go to the 11-year-old Great Crusader. Twice a winner in testing conditions, including at this venue earlier in the season, the son of Deploy lost no caste in defeat behind Mithak in a better race that this at Ludlow and behind Standing Bloom at Warwick last time on his two starts since. Although he strictly has a bit to find with a couple of today's rivals on running last time out, Richard Johnson's mount was never able to get competitive that day after finding trouble and, granted more luck today, he could reverse the form.
