chased leaders, reminders 7th, headway to lead 10th, 4 lengths clear last, ridden and hard pressed flat, stayed on well towards finish
led to 3rd, with leader, lost place 2 out, soon weakened
behind, reminders after 7th, last and pushed along when fell next
chased leaders, outpaced 10th, soon ridden, no danger after
held up in rear when stumbled and unseated rider approaching 5th
with leader, led 3rd, headed 10th, chased winner, 4 lengths down last, rallied and every chance flat, no extra towards finish
held up, chased leaders 9th, ridden 3 out, went 3rd next, kept on same pace, no chance with first 2
Russian Sky may provide the answer to a tricky finale in which No Complaint and Palace Walk are feared most. The selection won readily last time but the handicapper took note and dished out a 9lb rise whilst the victory came over three miles so there has to be a concern about the drop in trip. He has won at around this distance in the past, albeit when there was cut in the ground, so it may be worth taking a chance on that score whilst he has competed from higher marks than this in the past and should be up to winning from his revised mark on the evidence of his latest, impressive display. The trip is also an issue for No Complaint who has done a deal of his racing over further. He has proved frustrating, and expensive, to follow as he has ability and performs pretty consistently but has only managed to win one of his ten starts with four second place finishes. This all means that he receives little respite from the assessor and he's actually on a career high mark following his latest near miss which seems a little unkind given his profile; the percentage call is to take him on. Palace Walk is a potential fly in the ointment despite the fact that he's shown relatively little in two starts over hurdles this year. Brendan Powell's horses are running well in the main, Tony McCoy is a reasonable man to have on your side, those two runs were his first since 2006 and he won his sole chase start at this track. He's clearly interesting but we'll go down the more obvious route and select Russian Sky.
No Complaint (IRE) 5-1 (11-11) Chased leaders, not fluent 6th, blundered 9th, led 12th, hard pressed from 4 out, 2 lengths clear last, headed final 50 yards, 2nd of 9, 3/4l behind Mylo (11-5) at N Abbot 2m 5f hcp chs 0-110 (4) gf in May.
Palace Walk (FR) 10-1 (11-5) Prominent, ridden 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out, 7th of 11, 18l behind Beechwood (10-9) at Fontwell 2m 2f hcp hdl 0-105 (4) gd in May.
Manoubi 28-1 (10-7) Always behind, 8th of 12, well behind Victor Daly (10-10) at Aintree 3m 1f hcp chs 0-135 (3) gd in May.
Russian Sky 6-1 (10-0) Held up, headway, in touch 7th, ridden to lead 3 out, kept on well, won at Perth 3m hcp chs 0-115 (4) gf in May beating Paddy The Piper (11-7) by 4l, 10 ran.
Imps Way 7-2fav (11-11) Behind, pushed along 10th, kept on one pace from 2 out, 5th of 10, 15l behind Jupiter's Fancy (11-4) at Sedgefield 2m 4f hts chs (6) gf in May.
Karo de Vindecy (FR) 7-1 (11-3) Mid-division, ridden 10th, soon beaten, 7th of 11, 21l behind Fred Bojangals (10-0) at Sedgefield 2m 4f hcp chs 0-100 (4) gf in May.
Fred Bojangals (IRE) 9-1 (10-12) Mid-division, ridden 15th, soon weakened, 14th of 20, well behind Lethem Present (10-2) at Hexham 3m 1f hcp chs 0-95 (5) gf.
