held up, ridden and headway 3 out, chased leaders from last, no extra last 100 yards
in touch, weakened 3 out
towards rear,headway and raced wide approaching 3 out, soon ridden, stayed on to lead towards finish
towards rear, ridden along 8th, never dangerous
close up, mistake 1st, struggling from halfway
led, headed 4 out, soon weakened, hit last
towards rear, ridden 4 out, never dangerous
chased leaders, ridden after last, soon every chance, no extra flat
chased leaders, led 4 out, ridden last, kept on, headed towards finish
behind, mistake 1st, ridden 3 out, never dangerous
Nonrunner
This looks like a good opportunity for Barney to take advantage of a favourable chasing mark and land this prize, while Caislean Na Deirge, Donovan and Quarry Island all have possibilities. The selection races off a mark of 74 here, fully 23lb lower than if this were a handicap hurdle. Graham Lee's mount has not yet won over fences, but handles the ground, runs over his optimum trip and looks to have a great chance of breaking that chasing duck from a nice racing weight. Caislean Na Deirge is on the same mark as his last two highly creditable efforts in the spring although they were on fast ground. Although he has tackled softer ground in Ireland he has yet to win on it and even first time blinkers might not give him the edge here. Donovan is interesting despite not having won for 21 months. He is dropping in the weights but he handles cut, though may need further than this to be at his best. With The Miner clearly very hard to win with recent Hexham scorer Quarry Island looks best of the rest, but she has not shown enough over the larger obstacles to carry our cash and Barney can take this golden opportunity.
Caislean Na Deirge (IRE) 15-8fav (11-12) Held up in mid-division, headway after 7th, ridden and chased leader 3 out, kept on same pace from 2 out, 3rd of 5, 4 1/2l behind Sturbury (11-8) at Wincanton 2m nov hcp chs 0-100 (4) gf in May.
Chukchi Country (IRE) 14-1 (10-3) Prominent, ridden 4 out, weakened from next, 6th of 9, 29l behind Yankee Holiday (10-8) at Perth 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) gd in Jun.
Donovan (NZ) 18-1 (10-7) Held up, headway 4th, ridden next, soon beaten, 6th of 8, 20l behind Mind How You Go (11-8) at Market Rasen 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-120 (3) gs in Jun.
The Miner 20-1 (10-6) Chased leaders, weakened after last, 5th of 13, 17l behind Westfield Dancer (10-9) at Cartmel 2m 5f hcp chs 0-100 (4) gd in May.
Kalic d'Alm (FR) 8-1 (10-12) Towards rear, weakened approaching 4 out, 7th of 12, 21l behind Fly Kicker (11-7) at Cartmel 2m 1f nov hcp chs 0-95 (5) gd in May.
Quarry Island (IRE) 8-1 (10-12) Held up towards rear, headway after 2 out, led last, ridden out, won at Hexham 2m mrs nov hdl (4) sft in Jun beating Buffy (11-5) by 8l, 13 ran.
Barney (IRE) 4-1 (10-2) Led, ridden between last 2, mistake last, headed towards finish, no extra, 2nd of 9, 1 1/2l behind Rossin Gold (11-2) at Hexham 2m hcp hdl 0-135 (3) sft in Jun.
Star Galaxy (IRE) 4-1jt-fav (10-8) Tracked leaders, led 9th, ridden 3 out, weakening when headed 2 out, 3rd of 15, 12l behind Pauntley Gofa (11-9) at Hereford 2m 3f cnd hcp chs (5) gd in Jun.
