led to 16th, weakened and pulled up after 3 out, lame
tracked leader to 5th, blundered 8th, behind from 11th, blundered 12th and pulled up
held up in touch, weakening when jumped left 4 out and next
held up in last pair, steady headway from 14th, chased leading pair from 3 out, one pace and under pressure before next
ran in snatches, blundered and lost place 6th, driven to chase leaders when mistake 10th, behind from 16th
held up in last pair, lost touch from 16th, tailed off
tracked leader 5th, led 16th, ridden and headed before last no extra
held up in touch, mistake 14th, tracked leader from 4 out, led before last, driven clear flat
The winning run of The Tall Guy was brought to an end by Dealer's Choice at Ludlow last time but back over further he is taken to resume winning ways with Ankles Back and Trade Off rated the main dangers. Top weight Ankles Back comes here on the back of two wins at Leicester but an 8lb rise for the latest of those successes leaves Heather Dalton's gelding with more to do today. Martin Pipe's Trade Off still had every chance when falling four out over course and distance last time. However, his jumping remains of a concern and we would rather side with The Tall Guy. The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained gelding has gone up 18lbs in the weights since winning at Newbury in November but could potentially still be well treated off his current mark. He makes more appeal than Burwood Breeze, who is 8lbs better in for a length on running at Ludlow last month, as Tom George's gelding continues to find at least one too good and showed further signs of having temperamental problems when running out at Huntingdon last time. Stablemate Redskin Raider was leading when falling at Doncaster last time and should not be discounted, while the Philip Hobbs-trained Sterling Dot Com is a consistent performer who should again be thereabouts. Ice Cool Lad and Strong Magic are others worthy of a mention but again both have a tendency to find at least one too good and preference is for The Tall Guy who knows how to win.