held up in rear, headway approaching 12th, ridden next, weakened 4 out
held up in touch, not fluent 2nd, ridden approaching 13th, weakened next, behind when pulled up before 2 out
held up, pushed along 7th, struggling 11th, fell 13th
led, not fluent 11th, mistake 13th, headed 4 out, weakened 2 out
always prominent, chased leader 14th, led 4 out, ridden approaching 2 out, stayed on well
held up and keen early, some headway after 13th, weakened approaching 4 out
held up in touch, headway 12th, weakened 14th, tailed off
always prominent, chased leader 9th until 14th, rallied under pressure to regain 2nd approaching 2 out, not quicken flat
chased leader until not fluent 9th, in touch until weakened 13th
held up, not fluent 2nd, ridden and weakened 12th, tailed off when pulled up before 4 out
Swansea Bay has been a credit to connections this season and is taken to defy topweight against Longshanks, Kock de La Vesvre and Spring Grove. Swansea Bay has been the stable-star for Peter Bowen this term, thanks to some great efforts against top company, and it will certainly not be held against him that he found the King George too hot to handle on Boxing Day. Given a deserved break since, he lines up a fresh horse and will take all the beating. Longshanks gets lumps of weight from the selection and is definitely going the right way. Kim Bailey could not believe that he got beat in the Topham, but the seven-year-old showed that he could jump, and will be aimed at next year's National. He makes slightly more appeal than Kock de La Vesvre who got his act together at Perth last time, and also Hours and Mini Sensation who are both paying the penalties for past achievements. Spring Grove is honest enough and should go well, but Swansea Bay is a class act and can get back to winning ways.
