raced wide, chased winner, reminders 5th, 4 lenghts down and ridden when fell 5 out
made all, left clear 5 out, unchallenged
mistakes, chased leaders, reminders 8th, outpaced and losing touch when left poor 2nd 5 out, no chance with winner
Diceman, the winner of four of his nine races over fences may be good enough to give the weight to the likes of Royal Beluga and Chergan. Sue Smith's gelding has been done no favours by the raising of the weights, but he has a useful conditional on board, which will ease the burden. Outclassed at Cheltenham last month, he returned to winning ways when making all at Newcastle and although raised 7lbs for that victory, he could still prove to be ahead of the Handicapper, especially as the runner-up Dream On Willie has since run well in defeat, in a better contest. Trouble Ahead has only won going right-handed, so going this way around is clearly a negative for him, while the consistent Chergan may find the ground has gone against him. Hit Royale is only 1lb higher than when beating Pecadillo at Huntingdon, but he is at his best when he can hear his feet rattle, something he is unlikely to get here. Royal Beluga is from a yard in better form now, but one can't help feeling he is still a shade too high in the weights (12lbs higher than when last successful), so with doubts about the ground surrounding a few of these and others looking as they could do with some respite from the Handicapper, Diceman, who is effective under present conditions, and open to improvement looks the sensible choice.
