held up in rear, headway 10th, led 3 out, edged left flat, ridden out
prominent, led 8th to 11th, hit 12th, weakened next, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out
always towards rear, blundered 11th, behind when pulled up before next
always behind, mistake 5th, tailed off 11th
led to 8th, led again 12th, ridden and headed after 4 out, weakened quickly
tracked leaders, led 10th to 12th, ridden to lead again after 4 out, headed 3 out, edged right flat, kept on
tracked leaders, ridden 4 out, weakened approaching 2 out
in touch, not fluent 9th, ridden 11th, soon weakened
There was a lot to like about The Hearty Joker's success at Market Rasen last time out and he get's the vote to continue his winning from from Aircon, Tudor King and Mr Laggan. The Brendan Powell-trained eight-year-old has to shoulder a 7lb penalty for that 10 length win from I've No Say, but he still looks to be ahead of the handicapper here and with trip and ground to suit the gelding is taken to back-up here. Aircon has to shoulder a couple of pounds more than the selection but went well here in defeat to Tudor King last time. He remains on the same mark of 78 here and has got a definite chance from there, but he has not won for well over two years, despite plenty of attempts and may be found wanting again come the finish. Tudor King is now 6lb worse off with Aircon and is going to struggle to confirm those placings as a result. Nevertheless he is tough and genuine and he will need to be if he is to produce the lifetime best he needs to win. Best of the rest is bottom weight Mr Laggan, though he is a definite one-pacer and our selection here is The Hearty Joker.
