led, joined 7th, ridden and headed 3 out, weakened tamely and pulled up approaching last
close up in rear, reminders soon after 5th, slightly outpaced 5 out, closed approaching 3 out, close up when not fluent last, weakened flat
tracked leaders, ridden to chase winner 2 out, every chance when not fluent next, kept on one pace
raced wide, tracked leader, joined leader 7th, led 3 out, ridden and ran on
Brian Hughes passes up the opportunity to resume his partnership with Donald McCain’s Word Has It in favour of the seemingly-progressive Escapeandevade but the Ayr winner may not find it easy to give 16lb, including Charlotte Jones’ allowance, to ONE FINE MAN, who was just caught at Sedgefield last month when making his chasing bow. Captain Quint is back over his winning trip so can’t be ignored.
Escapeandevade (IRE) 11-10fav (12-0) Made all, clear 3 out, not fluent 2 out, unchallenged, won at Ayr 2m hcp (4) hvy in Jan beating Operation Overlord (11-8) by 15l, 4 ran.
Word Has It (IRE) 4-1 (12-0) Chased leaders, not fluent 2nd, went 2nd 5th, ridden and every chance 2 out, edged right before last and held, lost 2nd flat, 3rd of 7, 4 1/2l behind Thor De Cerisy (11-5) at Ffos Las 2m hcp (3) hvy in Jan.
Captain Quint (IRE) 9-1 (11-5) Mid-division, headway to chase leaders 4 out, ridden to chase leader before 2 out, switched right approaching last, weakened run-in, 3rd of 9, 14 1/2l behind Bill Baxter (11-6) at Kelso 2m 6f hcp (3) hvy in Dec.
One Fine Man (IRE) 12-1 (12-0) Led, driven approaching last, stayed on, headed towards finish, 2nd of 7, nk behind Son Of The Somme (11-13) at Sedgefield 2m 5f hcp (4) sft in Jan.
