jumped left, led 2nd until until jumped left and headed 5th, stayed close up, chased winner from 15th to 3 out, soon weakened
held up in fourth, closed from 10th, led 15th, stayed on well
held up in 5th, steady headway from 14th, stayed on to chase winner from 3 out, rallied last and kept on flat, always held
led to 2nd, led again 5th, headed 15th, weakened before 3 out
held up and well off the pace, blundered 12th, struggling 4 out, broke blood vessel
always behind, mistake 12th, weakened 14th, pulled up before next
always in rear, blundered 1st and 7th, tailed off 4 out
chased clear leading pair, weakened and lost place from 12th, never dangerous after
A decent looking renewal with eight runners facing the starter including recent Worcester winner Swansea Bay, who overcame a lengthy absence to score there but may suffer from the "bounce" factor so preference is for Zafarabad, who gets the verdict over Fear Siuil. The last mentioned, along with Tom George's Search And Destroy, has been in good form of late but now appears to be in the grip of the handicapper, as does the top weight Eau De Cologne. Phar From A Fiddle, well beaten behind Swansea Bay at Worcester, stepped on his effort there when winning at Fontwell next time and has to be respected. Lightweight Saffron Sun and Robert Alner's Peccadillo are arguably better over shorter. Admittedly Zafarabad has hardly set the world alight since winning this last year but the stable of Philip Hobbs could hardly be in better form and, off a 5lb lower mark than 12 months ago, he looks well worth chancing.
