held up towards rear, headway 10th, every chance 4 out, ridden approaching 2 out, one pace under pressure
led, blundered and headed 4 out, weakened after next
tracked leaders, pushed along and lost place halfway, mistake 11th, weakened approaching 4 out
tracked leader, led 4 out, ridden 2 out, stayed on well
This could concern Xaipete, Transit and Native Eire, with the last named expected to land the spoils. This son of Be My Native showed his liking for this course when landing a weaker race back in January from Monbonami. That was an improved performance after landing a Wetherby seller the time before. He gets in here with bottom weight and looks to have a decent chance of landing the hat-trick. Xaipete has to shoulder 11 stones 12 pounds but does come here in great heart having finished a close up third behind Minivet in a competitive hurdle at Doncaster. His chase form includes an excellent second to Prokofiev at Bangor and that puts him right in the firing line here. Transit finally realised his potential when beating the smart Venn Ottery at Market Rasen last time. That may have been an under par performance by the runner up, but nevertheless there were some decent horses further behind and Transit must be in the shake up. So a fascinating contest with Native Eire given a tentative vote
