always towards rear
close up, weakened approaching 4 out
held up, blundered 3rd, pushed along and outpaced 7th, chased leaders 4 out, weakened approaching last
chased leader, led after 3 out, clear from next
led, headed after 3 out, one pace
held up mid-division, pushed along approaching 6th, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
held up mid-division, chased leaders approaching 5th, ridden 4 out, one pace from 3 out
always behind, fell 2nd last
with leader, pushed along 8th, soon lost place, pulled up before 3 out
Fencote Gold gets the nod in a trappy handicap with Media Man and Loch Oscaig two of the likelier challengers. Peter Beaumont's charge left his previous form behind with a bold front running display at Bangor and he could be hard to pass if granted a soft lead here. That wasn't the strongest of races and an 8lb higher mark leaves him with more to do but he may prove up to the task. Media Man has proved himself to be a consistent performer but is climbing the weights in defeat and a bigger danger could be the free running Loch Oscaig who went close over course and distance last time. He has another 2lbs to carry today but should go close if he handles the ground. Support for either Tom's Toybox or St Pancras on their chase debuts would be worth noting but, at this stage of proceedings, Fencote Gold is taken to land the spoils.
Nevsky Bridge 11-1 (10-4) Held up in rear, headway after 4 out to chase leaders, weakened 2 out, last of 6, 49l behind Saif Sareea (11-2) at Kelso 2m 2f hcp hdl 0-130 (3) gf in Apr.
Custom Design 16-1 (11-0) Led, mistake 4th, headed before 6th, soon under pressure, weakened 4 out, 5th of 9, 36l behind Kitty Wong (10-2) at Market Rasen 2m 2f nov chs (4) sft in Dec.
Tom's Toybox 9-2 (11-12) In touch until lost place from 7th, 6th of 8, well behind Roschal (11-4) at Ayr 2m 4f nov hcp hdl 0-105 (4) hvy in Dec.
Loch Oscaig 7-2 (10-9) Held up in touch, ridden 3 out, stayed on approaching last, 2nd of 8, 1l behind Blast The Past (11-1) at Catterick 2m hcp chs 0-105 (4) gf in Dec.
Media man (IRE) 3-1fav (10-11) Led, headed after 2 out, rallied last, one pace run-in, 2nd of 9, 3l behind Whatcanyasay (9-9) at Sedgefield 2m hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Dec.
St Pancras (IRE) 7-2 (11-0) Led, headed after 2nd, left in lead next, ridden and headed approaching 2 out, soon weakened, 3rd of 7, 34l behind The Bonus King (10-12) at Southwell 2m nov hdl (4) gd in Aug '06.
Toulouse Express (IRE) 40-1 (11-2) Chased leaders until weakened approaching 7th, 10th of 17, well behind Lago (10-4) at Carlisle 2m 4f amt hcp hdl 0-105 (4) hvy in Nov.
Watch The Wind 50-1 (10-4) Held up in touch, led approaching 3 out, ridden and headed approaching last, soon weakened, 5th of 16, 22l behind Moonhawk (10-9) at Carlisle 2m 1f mdn hdl (5) hvy in Nov.
Fencote Gold 4-1 (10-5) Made all, ridden approaching last, held on towards finish, won at Bangor 2m 1f nov hcp chs 0-105 (4) gs in Nov beating Kentmere (11-12) by 1l, 8 ran.
