held up, not fluent 4th, lost ground 5th, behind from next, tailed off when pulled up before 4 out
prominent, slightly outpaced after 8th, rallied 3 out, narrow lead last, headed last strides
chased leaders, hit 3rd, went 2nd after 8th, challenged last, hard driven flat to lead last strides
held up, headway 6th, weakened approaching 4 out, mistake 2 out, tailed off
led, headed and bumped 3rd, led again 4th, hit 7th, headed next, weakened 4 out, no chance when mistake last
held up, headway 6th, still going well after 4 out, shaken up 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out
chased leader, jumped left and led 3rd, headed next, led again 8th, ridden after 2 out, headed last, weakened flat
detached, jumped very erratically 1st 2, pulled up before 3rd
Miss Pross gets our vote ahead of the likes of Its Crucial and Ela Re. The selection has won three of her nine starts over fences and is 9lbs higher than when last successful at Doncaster. That rise appeared to do for her chances at Leicester last time but she was giving weight all round that day and it may be that she's better suited to carrying less weight against better opposition. Its Crucial may well have finished closer at Sandown but for making several mistakes. He's done most of his racing over further but has to be on any short-list with his yard in such good form. William Bonney, The Very Man, Polar Gunner and Nirvana Du Bourg all have doubts over their current form but there are no such concerns for Ela Re. He's on a career high mark following his win in a modest race at Doncaster but his yard can do little wrong at present and he makes the short-list. This has the look of a trappy contest but Miss Pross has plenty going for her and rates the pick.
Nirvana Du Bourg (FR) 14-1 (11-7) Keen, held up behind leaders, ridden and weakened 11th, no chance when pulled up 3 out in race won by Mister Quasimodo (11-7) at Kempton 2m 4f Grad Ch (2) gs in Feb, 6 ran.
Ela Re 5-2 (11-7) Led, hit and headed 4 out, soon ridden, led again last, stayed on well flat, won at Doncaster 2m hcp chs 0-120 (3) gd beating Schinken Otto (10-7) by 5l, 5 ran.
Edmo Yewkay (IRE) 11-2 (10-6) Chased leaders, outpaced from 13th, stayed on same pace approaching 2 out, 3rd of 7, 14l behind Bagan (10-9) at Warwick 2m 4f hcp chs (2) gs in Feb.
Polar Gunner 20-1 (9-5) Chased leaders, weakened 2 out, behind when pulled up at the last in race won by Marcel (10-1) at Kelso 2m 1f hcp chs (2) gd, 6 ran.
Its Crucial (IRE) 11-4 (11-5) Chased leaders, headed 9th, ridden after next, stayed on from last, 3rd of 6, 2 1/2l behind Dev (11-8) at Sandown 2m hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd.
Miss Pross 7-2 (11-12) Held up in touch, ridden and headway approaching 3 out, weakened approaching last, 3rd of 9, 11l behind Cadoulitique (10-11) at Leicester 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) gs in Feb.
Mr Prickle (IRE) 6-1 (11-5) Chased leaders, ridden approaching 4 out, soon weakened, 9th of 11, 32l behind Miss Pross (10-10) at Doncaster 2m hcp chs 0-130 (3) gs in Jan.
The Very Man (IRE) 8-1 (9-12) Tracked leaders, ridden after 4 out, weakened approaching 3 out, tailed off when pulled up 2 out in race won by Ballyfitz (10-6) at Haydock 3m hcp hdl (2) gs in Feb, 18 ran.
William Bonney (IRE) 15-8 (11-7) Held up in rear, headway before 3 out, chased winner 2 out, weakened flat, 3rd of 5, 14l behind Gentle John (10-10) at Kempton 2m nov hcp chs (2) gd.
Some Timbering (IRE) 12-1 (11-12) Held up, weakened from 9th, hit 4 out, behind when pulled up 4 out in race won by Dictum (11-8) at Haydock 2m 4f nov chs (3) hvy in Jan '07, 6 ran.
