led and jumped right to 7th, headed approaching 9th, lost 2nd 4 out, ridden and weakened from next
tracked leaders, went 2nd 4 out, led 2 out, shaken up approaching last, comfortably
tracked leader, led after 8th, hit next, ridden after 3 out, headed next, eased when beaten flat
held up, pushed along after 10th, ridden 4 out, soon beaten, pulled up after 3 outn
held up in touch, pushed along after 6th and dropped to last, ridden after next, mistake 3 out, stayed on one pace approaching last
Micky Hammond's Minster York has been in a rich vein of form recently but with an 8lb rise in the weights to contend with for his latest success at Sedgefield more improvement is needed here. Topweight Barnburgh Boy has claims but is inconsistent, a comment that also applies to Gatflax, who returned to winning ways at Stratford last time. With Swing West looking out of his depth the TEAMtalk vote has to go to Heather Dalton's Ashgan. Admittedly his jumping can be erratic but the nine-year-old has shown steady improvement of late, is well treated compared to his hurdles rating and with the stable continuing in fine form he is a worthy selection.
