held up mid-division, headway halfway, ridden 4 out, effort next, soon one pace
held up in rear, headway on bit 4 out, effort when mistake 3 out, soon no impression
towards rear, mistake 6th, weakened from 8th, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out
mid-division, weakened from halfway, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out
held up in touch, headway 4 out, ridden approaching 2 out, led approaching last, stayed on strongly flat
tracked leader, led after 4 out, headed approaching last, kept on same pace flat
behind, tailed off from halfway
led, headed 8th, weakened from next
towards rear, never dangerous
towards rear, blundered 7th, soon lost touch
tracked leaders, led 8th, dd after 4 out, soon ridden, one pace from 2 out
towards rear, headway under pressure approaching 3 out, one pace from next
Little Task and Tiger Talk were similarly rated over hurdles and both now make their chasing debuts. Kansas City is a lightly raced French import but did not show too much promise on her debut. Tee-Jay, rated 110 when winning over hurdles, hasn't shown too much in a couple of chasing efforts. Park Place is lightly raced, is rated by connection and holds some interest. Ground Ball has to be respected, hailing as he does from Charlie Swan's stable. He's a bumper and hurdle winner in Ireland, and has to be given a chance, despite the fact that he fell on his chasing debut at Wexford. That was, however, a decent event and he was still in touch when departing at the second-last fence. Gralmano has won 14 races (11 Flat - at up to 10 furlongs - and three hurdles) but this is his chase debut. Chief Monte has not shown too much in the way of form thus far. Unusually, Brave Knight, modest on the Flat, ran only once over hurdles then, on his chasing debut, was completely outclassed by Azertyuiop. Bob's Buster, a winner rated 86 over hurdles, has more chasing experience than most and his Sedgefield third in March reads reasonably well. Bewleys Hotels has run with promise in each of his three starts and now debuts over the larger obstacles. All things considered, the TEAMtalk vote has to go to Charlie Swan again - although we'd be stronger on this selection than his one in the preceding race - and his five-year-old Ground Ball.
