prominent, lost ground on leaders 7th, ridden after 9th, rallied next, weakened approaching 3 out, tailed off
led until after 7th, led 11th, shaken up when closed down flat, always in command, readily
held up in 5th, headway to go 2nd when hit next, led 7th, headed 11th, weakened last
prominent, not fluent 1st, lost ground on leaders 7th, went 3rd approaching 3 out, stayed on under pressure to chase winner after 2 out, closed flat, no impression
tracked leaders, not fluent and reminder 4th, not travel great after, weakened after 10th, tailed off
in rear, mistake 8th, soon tailed off, pulled up before 4 out
took keen hold in rear, blundered and unseated rider 10th
Despite the weights suggesting other wise MASKED MAN looks the percentage call to beat Otage De Brion, with Always Bold and Wessex King others to consider in an interesting race. Alan King's charge won a three runner race at Kempton last time in fair style but in truth we learned little that we didn't already know; he's a sound jumper who relishes a quick surface and in this type of grade he rates a solid betting proposition. Otage De Brion caused something of a surprise when winning here last time, in the process jumping with a good deal more fluency. As with our selection, Charlie Longsdon's runner also enjoys this surface and if he can build on that effort last time he'd be hard to beat, but despite holding the highest rating of these his overall profile is one of inconsistency and for that reason he's taken on. Wessex King should have no problems with this step up in trip having won at Towcester last time on similar ground. He's probably going to have to improve again to take a hand in the finish but that's not impossible to imagine as he's not had much racing and Henry Daly's runner is more solid than Always Bold as that one makes his debut over fences and will need to improve for taking to them if he's to score. Bluegun comes right into calculations at the weights but it's a long time since he won and surely he'll need rain to be seen at his best, so we'll return to Masked Man who can land the hat-trick.
Masked Man (IRE) 8-13fav (11-4) Tracked leader, led 10th, pushed along approaching 3 out, clear after next, ran on well, won at Kempton 2m 4f nov chs (3) gd in Apr beating Polyfast (11-4) by 8l, 3 ran.
Otage De Brion (FR) 14-1 (10-12) Tracked leaders, led 11th, clear after next, not fluent last, eased near finish, won at Bangor 2m 4f nov chs (3) gd in Apr beating Tot Of The Knar (10-5) by 24l, 8 ran.
Wessex King (IRE) 7-4fav (10-12) Held up in rear, took keen hold, closed 5th, went 2nd 4 out, challenged 2 out, soon led, easily, won at Towcester 2m nov chs (4) gf in Apr beating Beherayn (11-2) by 9l, 6 ran.
Always Bold (IRE) 5-1 (11-10) Tracked leader until 2nd, prominent, ridden after 7th, stayed on under pressure flat, 3rd of 9, 3l behind Al Co (11-8) at Uttoxeter 2m 6f hcp hdl 0-130 (3) gf in Apr.
Bluegun (IRE) 6-1 (11-0) Led from 3rd, not fluent 4 out, headed next, soon outpaced, kept on from last, 3rd of 5, 1l behind Tara Royal (11-0) at Haydock 2m 4f beg chase (3) gd.
Bob's Temptation 7-1 (9-11) Towards rear, ridden after 8th, went modest 4th 4 out, left 3rd last, 3rd of 11, 24l behind Abbey Dore (10-7) at Hereford 2m 3f hcp chs 0-85 (5) sft in Mar.
King Caine (IRE) 16-1 (10-12) Led, jumped badly left and blundered 1st, rider lost irons, unseated next, in a race won by Cockney Trucker (10-12) at Newton Abbot 2m nov chs (4) gd, 4 ran.
