chased leaders, under pressure after 4out, soon no impression
held up in rear, not fluent 8th, mistake next, headway to chase leaders 12th, tracked winner 14th, soon ridden, staying on to challenge when mistake last, no extra
prominent, led 2nd, clear after 11th, hard driven approaching 2 out, ran on well
led until 2nd, remained prominent, ridden 13th, weakened before 2out
chased leaders, under pressure approaching 12th, mistake next, weakened 4out
held up in rear, slow 3rd, ridden 8th, detatched halfway, fell 10th
tracked leaders, pushed along halfway, struggling 11th, soon detatched, pulled up 4 out
Baltrasna and Border Fusion represent last years winning yard but ICE TEA may deny their trainer the follow up success by landing this prize. Our pick arrives in grand form having landed a point-to-point before accounting for the smart Turthen here last time. He may have been flattered by that last success but even so sets a decent standard here and with conditions to suit must go well. Border Fusion won this last year at odds of 5/6 but this renewal looks tougher. He's also not been pulling up any trees between the flags of late so despite the fact the talented Tom Greenall rides he looks up against it. His stablemate Baltrasna looks clear second best of the yard's runners and needs to improve almost beyond measure to land this so Vicario rates more of a threat. He's won at the track and has been in good form in point-to-points but seems better with cut, so with conditions set to be far from ideal he's taken on in his bid to give the weight away. Ballyvoge is another to consider especially if the market speaks in his favour but with Ice Tea we know what we're getting and he's taken to land the closing contest.
Vicario 5-4 (12-7) Ap; lft in ld 13; easy, won at Eyton-on-severn 3m ptp beating Belligerent (12-0) by 20l, 5 ran.
Border Fusion 7-2 (12-0) Ww; hdwy 12; outpcd 3 ot, 3rd of 6, 22l behind Roulez Cool (12-0) at Ashorne 3m ptp.
Ice Tea (IRE) 5-2 (11-7) Led 4th, headed 3out, soon outpaced, rallied to lead flat, all out, won at Bangor 3m hts chs (6) gd in Apr beating Turthen (12-8) by nk, 11 ran.
Ballyvoge (IRE) 4-6 (12-0) Made all; rdn out, won at Sandon 3m ptp hvy in Apr beating Noble Persian (12-0) by 1 1/2l, 2 ran.
Brookview Lad (IRE) 33-1 (11-7) Held up in mid-division, chased leaders approaching 13th, mistake 4 out, hit next when weakening, 6th of 11, well behind Horsham Lad (12-0) at Bangor 3m nov hts chs (6) sft in Apr.
Inching Closer 14-1 (12-0) To & pu 3 out, in a race won by Willie Wong (12-0) at Chaddesley Corbett 3m ptp gf, 15 ran.
Von Origny (FR) 7-1 (11-3) Tracked leader, ridden to lead and hung left approaching last, rider dropped whip flat, headed towards finish, 2nd of 5, 1l behind Lisadell King (12-1) at Stratford 2m 7f hts chs (5) gd in Apr.
Baltrasna 16-1 (11-0) Prom; led 8-12; ev ch 2 out; sn outpcd, 3rd of 6, 23l behind Narciso (11-0) at Heslaker 3m ptp gd.
