led, soon clear, blundered 1st, ridden and headed approaching last, no extra
tracked clear leader, not fluent 4th, jumped left throughout, headway 3 out, weakened after next
mid-division, weakened 5 out
held up in rear, ridden 4 out, soon beaten
held up in rear, jumped left 7th, headway 5 out, not fluent 3 out, stayed on strongly approaching last, nearest finish
held up mid-division, under pressure 4 out, soon no impression
held up in rear, some headway 3 out, never on terms
chased leaders, went 2nd 4th, headway 3 out, ridden to lead approaching last, ran on
Nonrunner
An interesting race tactically with the two principal contenders employing contrasting tactics. This track should play to the strengths of Fabulous Jet who has hopefully recovered from his exertions in February and he's taken to get the better of Majorca. Ashwell Lad has shown some ability over hurdles but this trip looks to be on the short side for him on his chase bow. The selection ran five times in February and looked to be feeling the effects of that busy period when falling on the last of those starts. He won twice in that period with the hallmark of those successes being his trailblazing style. He has his own way of negotiating the fences but he could be hard to catch around this circuit if back to his frontrunning best. Majorca is a far better horse than he showed at Doncaster last time and is the obvious beneficiary if the selection fails to fire. He's officially rated a pound higher than the selection but he's usually held up and there's every chance that he may find himself with too much ground to make up in the closing stages. This should be a fascinating battle of wits but we prefer Fabulous Jet as the venue plays to his strengths.
Fabulous Jet (FR) 11-8fav (11-7) Led, took keen hold, soon clear, came back to field after 3 out, ridden, headed after 2 out, 4 length 4th, weakening when fell at the last in race won by Josear (10-11) at Hereford 2m nov chs (4) gd in Feb, 11 ran.
Majorca 7-2 (11-8) Always behind, 6th of 7, 36l behind King Daniel (11-7) at Doncaster 2m nov hcp chs 0-130 (3) gd in Feb.
Albarino (IRE) 10-1 (11-1) Keen hold in rear, tailed off when pulled up 3 out in race won by Silver Inngot (11-2) at Lingfield 2m hcp chs 0-110 (4) gd in Nov, 9 ran.
Always Baileys (IRE) 150-1 (10-9) Mid-division, ridden and weakened 3 out, 11th of 15, well behind Hibiki (10-13) at Ludlow 2m nov hdl (4) gd in Feb.
Ashwell Lad (IRE) 7-2fav (11-4) Prominent, pecked 1st, led 4th until 5th, weakened after 3 out, hung badly left before 2 out, 13th of 16, 45l behind Psychiatrist (11-7) at Warwick 2m cnd hcp hdl 0-100 (4) gf in Mar.
Master Ellis (IRE) 33-1 (11-4) Tracked leaders, headway 4 out, weakened next, 6th of 8, 25l behind Share My Dream (10-6) at Chepstow 2m clm hdl (5) hvy in Mar.
Orrezzo (GER) 28-1 (10-5) Pulled hard, ran wide and pulled up in race won by Desert Quest (11-5) at Ludlow 2m nov chs (3) gd in Mar, 7 ran.
Tyup Pompey (IRE) 150-1 (10-9) Led to 4 out, weakened after last, 3rd of 7, 14l behind Desert Quest (11-5) at Ludlow 2m nov chs (3) gd in Mar.
Omix D'or (FR) (10-3) 4th of 8, 10l behind Opeo (10-3) at Vire 2m 3f hdl gf in Jun '06.
Ramvaswani (IRE) 9-2 (10-11) Held up, headway 5th, ridden approaching 2 out, beaten approaching last, 4th of 8, 7l behind Azione (11-4) at Warwick 2m amt hcp hdl 0-100 (4) hvy in Mar.
