pulled hard, led, joined 4th, headed narrowly 7th, ridden and every chance 4 out, outpaced by winner after 3 out
in rear, behind from 6th
tracked winner until 4th, remained close up, ridden and weakened 3 out, pulled up approaching last
held up, behind 7th, left remote 3rd before last
in touch, joined leader 4th, led narrowly 7th, ridden clear after 3 out, eased flat, comfortable
TREATY FLYER is the class-act in the line-up and is preferred to Edgefour and El Presidente in a very winnable race. Allison Thorpe's Anshan mare was the best of these over hurdles and despite a poor completion rate of late is fancied to make a successful transition back to fences. She is a course winner and although her last two runs over fences resulted in losses, at these weights she probably only needs to jump round to win. The most obvious danger is Neil King's gelding El Presidente who was last seen flopping at Doncaster. However he is rated better than that and may do better today in this smaller field. Galley Slave has not shone before in this sphere and this 62-rated fellow is impossible to fancy, Ruby Valentine is bred to improve over fences but whilst her fourth at Bangor reads ok she faces a stiff task here, whilst Edgefour should be fit after a recent spin on the flat and he was good enough over hurdles to rate a danger in this kind of line-up as he tries fences for the first time. This looks straight-forward for Treaty Flyer to gain a first chase win.
El Presidente (IRE) 33-1 (11-2) Held up in touch, chased leaders approaching 10th, weakened 4 out, 8th of 10, well behind Salut Flo (11-2) at Doncaster 2m 3f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd in Mar.
Galley Slave (IRE) 40-1 (9-7) In rear, headway to track leaders 5th, ridden and weakened 3 out, 6th of 10, 40l behind Woodlark Island (10-7) at Fakenham 2m 4f nov hcp hdl 0-105 (4) gd in Apr.
Edgefour (IRE) 3-1 (11-0) Chased leading pair, 2nd 2 out, outpaced well before last, soon lost moderate 3rd, 4th of 7, 21l behind Lindy Lou (11-4) at Folkestone 2m 1f mrs hcp hdl 0-120 (3) gs in Nov.
Ruby Valentine (FR) 3-1 (10-11) Held up in touch, took closer order 2nd, hit 6th, dropped to rear, chased leaders approaching 3 out, ridden next, soon weakened, 4th of 5, 18l behind Star Tenor (11-4) at Bangor 2m 1f nov hcp chs 0-100 (4) sft in Apr.
Treaty Flyer (IRE) 16-1 (10-7) Tracked leading trio, went 3rd 5th until well before 2 out, rallied to 2 lengths 3rd but edging right when fell 2 out, in a race won by Ashkazar (11-8) at Sandown 2m listed hdl (1) gd in Apr, 6 ran.
