chased leaders, went 2nd over 5f out, ridden over 2f out, soon beaten
in touch, pushed along over 6f out, soon weakened
made all, ridden clear 2f out, unchallenged
chased winner until pushed along over 5f out, weakened over 2f out
Potentially a very trappy little bumper with just four runners and three of them, Waldo's Dream, Sovietica and Zailann considered for differing reasons, and we will side with Sovietica. The selection won a Warwick bumper on debut and although soundly beaten twice since, he has been pitched in in two very decent subsequent contests, in particular last time at Cheltenham. If he can run up to that form then he holds a very good chance here. Waldo's Dream probably did not achieve that level of form even when winning here last time, and will need to step up on that effort if he is to win. Debutante Zailann is interesting coming from David Pipe's yard and and being a son of Sinndar. All we can really do is take the market as a guide to his chance, but without that knowledge we will side with the proven Sovietica to score.
Waldo's Dream 8-1 (10-12) Held up towards rear, headway 8f out, led over 2f out, left clear well over 1f out, ridden and ran green inside final furlong, ran on, won at Hereford 2m 1f mdn nhf (6) gf beating Or Sing About (10-11) by 4l, 14 ran.
Howdy Cloud Evensfav (12-0) Went prom 6; lost plce 8; lost tch 15; pulled up in race won by Waddon Hill (12-0) at Buckfastleigh 3m ptp gd in May, 10 ran.
Sovietica (FR) 33-1 (11-7) Chased leaders, pushed along 3f out, weakened 2f out, 5th of 17, 15l behind Classic Fiddle (11-2) at Cheltenham 2m 1f mrs nhf (4) gd in Apr.
Zailann (IRE) Sinndar gelding, half-brother to winners up to 1m2f and over hurdles including the Group 3 winner Zaiyad.
