held up in rear, headway when not fluent 4 out, soon ridden and effort, one pace next
tracked leaders, headway 5 out, led approaching 2 out, stayed on strongly
led, not fluent, headed approaching 2 out, one pace under pressure
tracked leader, ridden and weakened 4 out
in touch, mistake 1st, hit 6th, dropped rear, soon tailed off
A small but competitive field goes to post for this handicap chase and the principals look to be Red Hustler, Caitriona's Choice and Mumaris and we will take a chance on Red Hustler. The gelding from the Chris Grant yard rounded off a last season with a win in a novices chase defeating Sir Norman in good style. He looks to be on a fair mark for this his handicap debut and with conditions in his favour he will be hard to beat. Caitriona's Choice rates the main danger on her latest second Ichi Beau and if the ground becomes very soft she could well be the one to be on. Mumaris was a fair fourth behind Log On Intersky at Aintree in a much better race last time and is another worthy of respect. Pertino is thrown in on his best for but has become disappointing so we are happy to stick with Red Hustler.