held up mid-division, headway after 5th, ridden approaching 4f out, weakened over 2f out
chased leader, ridden over 4f out, soon weakened
held up, ridden and weakened approaching 5f out
held up, headway 6f out, led 4f out, headed over 1f out, no extra well inside final furlong
in rear, hampered after 6f, ridden 6f out, headway 5f out, went 2nd 4f out, ridden 2f out, hard ridden and led over 1f out, kept on, gamely
held up mid-division, tailed from halfway
mid-division, ridden approaching 5f out, soon weakened
led, ridden and headed 4f out, weakened 2f out
in touch, tailed off from halfway, virtually pulled up
chased leaders until weakened 6f out
in touch, ridden after 6f, soon behind
chased leaders, ridden and weakened 3f out
behind, pushed along after 6f, ridden and headway over 5f out, kept on one pace 2f out
mid-division, steady headway 7f out, went 3rd approaching final furlong, no chance with first two
mid-division, ridden and behind from halfway
behind, ridden approaching 5f out, some headway approaching 3f out, never troubled leaders
always behind, tailed off
mid-division, pushed along approaching 6f out, some headway approaching 4f out, kept on one pace
in touch, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened
held up, in mid-division when squeezed from room and unseated rider after 6f
Be Fair, Classic Native and Dempsey all ran in the Festival Bumper at Cheltenham last month, a race that is often a reliable guide for future winners, but none of them seriously threatened the winner Liberman and they are all probably best watched today. On the same day as that race Oliver Sherwood's Eric¿s Charm was beating two previous winners to land a bumper at Huntingdon. This represents a step up in class for the five-year-old but he is not without a chance in a competitive contest. Edward O'Grady missed Cheltenham with John Oliver believing his horse to be too green to run there and this has been the aim for some time. A winner at Naas and Navan this year, he will be tough to beat, as will Richard Guest's Armaguedon, who has had the benefit of four outings already. Patricksnineteenth, who looked impressive when beating some useful types at Sandown, Henrietta Knight's Huntingdon winner El Vaquero and Christy Roache's unexposed Red Knight are others to consider but the selection is Vodka Bleu. The nine-year-old was an impressive winner at Leopardstown in January after which he was bought by David Johnson and sent to Martin Pipe. The French-bred gelding was made to work hard to win on his debut for new connections at Haydock but there is bound to be plenty more to come and, in receipt of weight from older rivals, he gets the vote to end a good week for the handler on a winning note.
