held up, travelled well and headway approaching 3 out, chased leader after 2 out, fell last
chased leaders, pushed along and headed before 4 out, nothing extra from 3 out
held up, outpaced before 4 out, niggled along and rallied 3 out, headway after last without troubling winner
tracked leader, briefly led before 2 out, soon headed before next, weakened after last
in rear, fell 2nd
in rear, pushed along before 3 out, headway after last without troubling winner
held up, niggled along before 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out
in rear, struggling from 4 out, tailed off before 3 out and soon pulled up
virtually made all, briefly headed 2 out but soon led again, going well when left clear at the last, always doing enough
prominent, chased along and headed before 3 out, soon weakened and lost further ground before 2 out
TORTUGA BAY, a winner between the flags, had shown little over hurdles before Brian Hughes steered her to victory at Newcastle. She should do even better over fences and gets the nod though Dexcite has been running quite well in slightly higher grade and should be winning soon. Annie Day has shown little over timber though scored between the flags so is expected to make a better chaser but Elixir is probably best watched after failing to complete the last twice. Sir Tivo, beaten just a length in a similar race at Bangor, ran poorly when stepped up in class at Huntingdon and is untested on this sort of ground.
Dexcite (FR) 80-1 (10-12) Held up, headway to track leaders before 3 out, left second at last, kept on run-in but no match for winner, 2nd of 10, 6l behind Out On The Tear (11-7) at Catterick 2m hcp (4) sft in Dec.
Sir Tivo (FR) 8-1 (10-7) Mid-division out wide, headway chasing leaders approaching 4th, hit 8th, pushed along after 3 out, weakened before next, 5th of 10, 36 1/2l behind Bathiva (11-12) at Huntingdon 2m hcp (4) gd in Nov.
Annie Day (IRE) 100-1 (10-12) Always towards rear, 7th of 15, dist behind Global Harmony (10-12) at Wincanton 2m 5f (4) gs in Dec.
Tortuga Bay 12-1 (11-1) Prominent, relegated to midfield 3rd, headway to chase leaders travelling strongly before 3 out, almost upsides 2 out, led soon after, driven clear before last, held on well flat, won at Newcastle 2m hcp (5) sft in Dec beating Red Ochre (11-4) by 2l, 12 ran.
Pepper Street (IRE) 28-1 (10-8) Mid-division, not fluent 3rd, pushed along before 3 out, soon weakened, 9th of 12, dist behind Whiteoak Fleur (11-9) at Sedgefield 2m 4f hcp (4) sft in Dec.
Fourth Of July (IRE) 25-1 (10-0) Prominent, close up 8th, ridden and weakened before 3 out, 8th of 13, 23l behind Celtic Flames (11-11) at Musselburgh 2m 4f hcp (4) gd in Nov.
Elixer (IRE) 14-1 (10-0) Chased leaders, led approaching 3 out, pushed along and headed after 2 out, fell last, at Carlisle 2m hcp (5) hvy in Dec.
Connerys Hill (IRE) 100-1 (10-0) Prominent, led 3rd, jockey lost irons 4th, soon lost position, pulled up after 6th, at Carlisle 2m hcp (5) hvy in Dec.
Barden Bella (IRE) 18-1 (10-0) Held up towards rear, good headway chasing leaders before 6th, wakened before 2 out, 6th of 11, 21 1/4l behind Imperial Acolyte (11-12) at Ffos Las 2m 4f hcp (5) sft in Nov.
Madam Scully 50-1 (10-0) Never better than midfield, 6th of 12, dist behind Discko Des Plages (11-10) at Catterick 2m 3f hcp (5) sft in Dec.
