held up mid-division, headway 6th, ridden to lead briefly and hit 2 out, weakened approaching last
held up in rear, ridden and headway 3 out, joined leader last, every chance flat, no extra close home
led, clear 6th, ridden 3 out, headed and weakened 2 out
held up in rear, headway 6th, ridden to lead after 2 out, idled run-in
in touch, ridden and mistake 6th, outpaced next, rallied from 2 out, mistake last
mid-division, headway 6th, ridden and weakened 3 out
chased leader, ridden 4 out and outpaced, weakened after 2 out
in touch, ridden 5th, weakened 6th and eased
always behind, lost touch 7th, tailed off
L'Oiseau gets the nod over Water King, with Altitude Dancer, Caesarian Hunter and Crazy Mazie seen as the other main players. L'Oiseau has been disappointing over hurdles in the past, but returns to this sphere after three outings over fences. His trainer was pleased with the six-year-old's performance in making a winning start to his chase career at Muselburgh in January, but he has not impressed since at Carlisle and Catterick, so maybe a confidence-boosting round here will do the trick. He is not badly handicapped so fingers are crossed that he bounces back to form. Water King was unlucky to be caught on the line at Fontwell and can give the selection most to do along with Altitude Dancer who stuck to his task well when scoring at Plumpton. Caesarian Hunter saw the backside of prolific winner Celtic Son at Exeter and should be involved in the shake-up, while Crazy Mazie returns after a break and might just be best watched here. Only a tentative vote goes the way of L'Oiseau.
