held up towards rear, veered badly left and unseated rider 5th
mid-division, outpaced 10th, headway approaching 3 out, chased winner 2 out, kept on
in rear, detached from 3rd, soon tailed off
prominent, weakened approaching 3 out
tracked winner until lost place after 6th, tailed off from 8th
held up in touch, went 2nd 4 out, weakened from 2 out
held up and keen, went 2nd after 6th, fell at 11th
Cool Friend just did enough to justify odds of 10/11 when landing a novices' hurdle at Exeter last month and Jeremy Scott's mare has to be considered on her chasing debut but there are plenty of the eight runners here that have claims and it may be worth taking a chance with MIDNIGHT QUEEN, who gets the vote over Parlesotho. Alan King's mare was just about the pick of these over hurdles having earned a rating of 121 following her win at Hereford in January but she disappointed when last seen in April and now makes her debut over fences. Tom George's Mewstone was good value for her win over hurdles at Lingfield in November but has failed to progress after that and she now looks best watched first time out over fences. Lucy Wadham's Topflight Wildbird lost her way over hurdles and may do better now switched to fences but preference is for Midnight Queen. Trained by Kevin Bishop when last seen under rules in a novices' hurdle at Newton Abbot in April 2007, the eight-year-old has shown a decent level of form in point-to-points in recent starts and she may be worth chancing back under rules on her debut for Colin Tizzard.
Allfortara (IRE) 33-1 (10-9) Held up, improved to 3rd 3 out, hit 2 out, never dangerous, 3rd of 5, 21l behind Bergo (10-13) at Kempton 2m beg chs (4) gf in Oct.
Cool Friend (IRE) 10-11fav (10-9) Tracked leaders, led 3 out, driven out, just held on, won at Exeter 2m 1f nh nov hdl (4) gd in Oct beating Orbital Orchid (10-5) by hd, 6 ran.
Lady Romanov (IRE) 33-1 (9-12) Tracked leaders, mistakes 4th and 9th, effort 3 out, soon weakened, 8th of 11, well behind Amazing Valour (11-6) at Huntingdon 3m 2f hcp hdl 0-95 (5) gf in Oct.
Mewstone 25-1 (11-5) Led, jumped left 5th, headed 7th, led again after 3 out, headed 2 out, weakened, 8th of 13, 26l behind Dansimar (11-9) at Hereford 2m 4f hcp hdl (3) sft in Feb.
Midnight Queen 5-2 (11-7) Led to 8 & 11-12; outpcd 3 out, 2nd of 4, 20l behind Sericina (11-7) at Ston Easton 3m ptp in Mar.
Miss Merenda 15-2 (10-3) In rear, soon pushed along, jumped left 6th, blundered badly 11th, tailed off when pulled up before 14th, in a race won by Jacarado (10-13) at Towcester 3m hcp 0-90 (5) gf in Oct, 13 ran.
Parlesotho (FR) 8-1 (11-0) Mid-division, ridden 4 out, held when pulled up after 2 out, dismounted, in a race won by Qulinton (11-5) at Chepstow 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-135 (3) gd in Apr, 12 ran.
Topflight Wildbird 4-1 (10-11) Always prominent, raced keenly, led when jumped right and hit 3 out, ridden and headed before 2 out, one pace, 4th of 11, 4 1/2l behind Beshairt (10-5) at Stratford 2m 3f mrs hcp hdl 0-120 (3) gd in Apr.
