held up in rear, headway to chase leading pair 4th, under pressure approaching 2 out, beaten soon after
jumped left at several flights, made all, clear well before last, easily
settled 3rd, headway to chase easy winner between last 2, soon no impression
chased winner to between last 2, weakened and pulled up before last
dropped to rear after 2nd, struggling 4th, tailed off
Mega d'Estruval is expected to carry top-weight to victory here, Hi Laurie and Flower Haven look to be the main rivals. Martin Pipe's mare was having her first run for a year when well beaten behind Natal at Taunton last month. She will strip a lot fitter this afternoon and has strong claims an the pick of her past form. Hi Laurie ran out of steam close home when behind Novacella last time. She gets in here on a nice racing weight and looks certain to be involved in the finish. Flower Haven has shown bits and pieces of form this season and should also be in the shake up. It wouldn't be too much of a surprise if the other two runners were also prominent in a poor race, but Mega d'Estruval does appear to have the strongest claims and she gets the vote.
Mega D'estruval (FR) 6-1 (10-5) Mid-division, ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened, 10th of 14, 35l behind Natal (11-8) at Taunton 2m 1f nov hdl (C) gd in Dec.
Hi Laurie (IRE) 3-1 (11-0) Led, quickened approaching 6th, ridden and no extra when headed flat, 2nd of 7, 3l behind Novacella (11-9) at Fontwell 2m 2f mrs hcp hdl (E) gd in Dec.
Flower Haven 20-1 (10-0) Chased leaders, ridden to challenge approaching 2 out, one pace from last, 3rd of 16, 3 1/2l behind Goldstar Dancer (11-5) at Catterick 2m 3yo nov hdl (C) gd in Nov.
Satin Rose 10-1 (10-0) Rear division, blundered 2nd, well beaten when fell at the last in race won by Josear (10-5) at Plumpton 2m 3yo nov hdl (E) sft in Dec, 14 ran.
Lojo 50-1 (10-5) Not fluent, always behind, tailed off, 9th of 11, 49l behind Tora Bora (10-12) at Fontwell 2m 2f 3yo nov hdl (E) sft in Dec.
