in rear, closed on leading trio 9th, ridden and outpaced 3 out, stayed on to go 3rd near finish
keen tracked leaders, ridden and every chance 3 out, hit next hard, soon weakened, lost 2 places run-in
led, ridden and headed 3 out, still every chance at last, kept on one pace
keen tracked leader, led narrowly 3 out, ridden next, asserted towards finish
in rear, outpaced 7th, soon behind, stayed on run in, went 4th near finish
Kumbeshwar, third in the Grand Annual at Cheltenham, has fallen in two of his last three starts and took a heavy tumble at Kempton last time. He's an obvious threat to all with a clear round but DOMTALINE looks the one to beat. Paul Nicholls' grey won novice events at Ludlow and Stratford in the spring and returned to action with a fine effort when just touched off by the useful Carlito Brigante at Cheltenham. Charingworth scored at Wetherby last December and would have followed up at Ayr but for unseating his rider. He'll be better for his recent run and looks a threat while Doctor David is another who will be better for a recent outing after a long break though he wouldn't want any more rain. Devotion To Duty was having only his second start over fences when scoring at Carlisle in March so there should be more to come.
Charingworth (IRE) 20-1 (11-3) Not fluent well in rear, hit 6th, lost touch 8th, tailed off, 6th of 8, well behind Prosecco (10-0) at Ayr 2m hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft.
Doctor David 8-1 (11-1) Took keen hold, mostly chased leader until after 6th, weakened 3 out, 9th of 12, 30l behind Gus Macrae (9-12) at Ascot 2m 1f listed hcp chs (1) gs.
Domtaline (FR) 4-1 (11-11) Tracked leader until after 2nd, stayed prominent, challenging when left in lead 2 out, ridden and edged right when bumped flat, headed towards finish, ran on, 2nd of 7, shd behind Carlito Brigante (11-8) at Cheltenham 2m 4f nov chs (2) gs in Oct.
Kumbeshwar 7-4 (11-9) Led, blundered and fell heavily 4th, in a race won by Ghizao (11-9) at Kempton 2m 4f grad ch (2) gs, 3 ran.
Devotion To Duty (IRE) 9-2 (10-12) Chased leading pair on outside, dropped to 4th and last after 3rd, switched inside and headway after 8th, outpaced 3 out, rallied in 3rd approaching last, soon ridden, stayed on to lead towards finish, won at Carlisle 2m nov chs (4) gs in Mar beating Charminster (11-5) by 1 1/2l, 4 ran.