chased leader, not much room 1st, left in lead 5th, headed and pecked 2 out, no extra and not fluent last
chased leaders, left 2nd 5th, led 2 out going well, held together and joined, nudged along to readily assert flat
held up in rear, some headway when blundered 4 out, soon weakened
held up towards rear, headway 4 out, challenged 2 out, no impression when winner asserted flat
led until blundered 5th, lost place, eased and pulled up before next
mid-division, headway 2nd, jumped into brush upright on side of fence 6th, blundered next, beaten 4 out, eased before 3 out, pulled up after 3 out
chased leaders, not much room 5th, weakened from 3 out
The teenager Duke Of Navan is still capable but hasn’t won in more than three years. Movie Legend won this in 2019 off a 4lb higher mark but hasn’t scored since. Getaway Trump steps outside novice company for the first time and runs here rather than at Newbury. However, the winner failed to frank the form of his latest Musselburgh second earlier this week and he was disappointing when behind Return Ticket at Cheltenham in the autumn. Ballywood has slipped to a decent mark but may lack the scope of ZOFFEE and Rikoboy. With the latter raised a further 6lb after failing to overcome a 13lb rise at Market Rasen, this looks a good opportunity for Philip Hobbs’ gelding as he ran well at Newbury on his handicap debut after beating a subsequent winner at Exeter.
Return Ticket (IRE) 7-4fav (11-4) Chased leader until 3f out, weakened from over 2f out, 6th of 9, 27 3/4l behind Gylo (11-4) at Newcastle 2m (4) pol in Feb.
Getaway Trump (IRE) 2-1fav (11-8) Prominent, led 10th, headed 3 out, held last, stayed on same pace flat, 2nd of 6, 4 3/4l behind Gaelik Coast (11-4) at Musselburgh 2m 4f (3) sft in Feb.
Ballywood (FR) 13-2 (11-4) Raced keenly disputing 2nd, outright 2nd 10f out, led 5f out, quickened over 2f out, headed inside final 2f, lost 2nd over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 5th of 6, 9l behind Southfield Stone (11-4) at Kempton 2m (4) pol in Feb.
Duke Of Navan (IRE) 13-2 (11-6) In rear, slow jump 1st, some headway 8th, ridden after 4 out, plugged on one pace from 2 out, 5th of 8, 30 3/4l behind Vado Forte (11-1) at Doncaster 2m hcp (3) gs in Dec.
Zoffee 6-1 (10-10) With leaders, hit 2nd, mistake 5th, blundered 9th, pushed along before 3 out, ridden after last, kept on one pace, 4th of 8, 8 3/4l behind Elusive Belle (11-6) at Newbury 2m hcp (3) gd in Nov.
Rikoboy (FR) 11-4fav (10-7) Held up in rear, slightly hampered 2nd, headway 5th, challenged 3 out, led 2 out, headed flat, stayed on, 2nd of 9, 1/2l behind Ruinous (10-7) at Musselburgh 2m hcp (3) sft in Feb.
Movie Legend 22-1 (11-4) Chased leader 3f, chased leaders, pushed along 3f out, ridden and weakened over 1f out, 8th of 14, 6 3/4l behind Strong Glance (11-4) at Lingfield 2m (4) pol in Feb.
