prominent, restrained to midfield 3rd, awkward 5th (water) and reminders, towards rear 8th, ridden after 11th, tailed off 4 out
in rear, steady headway 8th, ridden after 3 out, kept on but never reached challenging position
held up towards rear, jumped right 2nd, midfield 6th, progress to chase leader 10th, ridden 3 out, modest 2nd 2 out, kept on
midfield, towards rear 5th (water), not fluent 7th, headway into midfield 10th, awkward 4 out, ridden and weakened before 3 out where mistake
made all, ridden clear before 2 out, comfortably
tracked leader, awkward 5th (water), blundered 2 out, weakened before last
Avoid De Master has only gone up 3lb for winning at Newcastle but the runner-up has been beaten since. O Connell Street was pulled up on his UK debut at Musselburgh and Tupelo Mississippi suffered the same fate at Newcastle having been beaten in a match earlier at Carlisle. Nocte Volatus ran out at the first at Hereford having made all at Catterick previously and is clearly a risky proposition at present so we’ll take the view that the longer trip was to blame for AHEAD OF THE FIELD’s poor showing last time, though Full Of Surprises can’t be ignored receiving weight all round.
Tupelo Mississippi (IRE) 3-1 (10-13) Jumped right, pressed leader, led 4th, headed 4 out, weakening when mistake 2 out, pulled up before last, at Newcastle 2m 7f hcp (3) gs in Nov.
O Connell Street (IRE) 11-1 (11-5) Led, clear after 4th until before 9th, headed 12th, soon weakened, pulled up before 3 out, at Musselburgh 2m 4f hcp (3) sft in Jan.
Ahead Of The Field (IRE) 4-1 (11-9) Held up in midfield, towards rear 6th, steady headway between horses 13th, ridden to chase leaders before 3 out, faded from 2 out, 7th of 13, 29l behind Slipway (11-11) at Southwell 3m hcp (4) gs in Jan.
Avoid De Master (IRE) 4-1 (11-3) Close up, led before 4th, joined 7th, pushed along and led outright before 4 out, not fluent 2 out, challenged approaching last, ran on flat, won at Newcastle 2m hcp (4) gd in Dec beating Maid O'Malley (11-3) by 3/4l, 5 ran.
Nocte Volatus 1-2fav (11-11) Ran out 1st and unseated rider, at Hereford 2m 5f hcp (5) gs in Jan.
Full Of Surprises (FR) 7-1 (11-4) Jumped right at times, held up, mistake 6th, pecked slightly 3 out, stayed on approaching last, went 2nd flat, no impression on winner, 2nd of 6, 2 3/4l behind Out On The Tear (11-10) at Catterick 2m hcp (4) gs in Dec.
