held up in touch, went 2nd after 3 out, led approaching last, hard ridden flat, headed towards finish
chased leaders in 3rd, not fluent 1st, blundered 10th, reminders 13th, weakened from 3 out, soon eased
tracked leader, hit 7th, ridden 3 out, soon weakened
led, headed approaching last, weakened flat
held up in rear, ridden after 2 out, went 3rd approaching last, stayed on to lead towards finish
Brendan Powell has his string in good form so Plane Painter has to be respected but the five-year-old gave no sign of encouragement on his chasing debut when pulled up at Worcester last month and a safer option looks to be WESTERN GALE, who gets the vote with Beautiful Vision rated the best of the rest. The selection was a dual winner over hurdles in Ireland and made a promising first start for Martin Todhunter when chasing home R De Rien Sivola in a beginners' chase at Uttoxeter. Any further improvement for that run, will make the six-year-old tough to beat. Micky Hammond's Chernik won a novices' handicap chase at Carlisle well enough in April but he was beaten some way out on his only subsequent outing and looks best watched. Tim Vaughan seems to do well with other trainer's castoffs so Guitar Rory would have to be respected but he needs to improve to get involved. George Moore's Keene Spirit has failed to trouble the judge since making a winning debut in a Sedgefield bumper and of more interest may be the Evan Williams-trained Beautiful Vision, who was good value for his win in a beginners' chase at Sedgefield last time. He has solid claims but the penalty for that success may anchor him and a better bet may be Western Gale.
Beautiful Vision (IRE) 8-1 (11-5) Held up in rear, headway 10th, went 2nd 3 out, led 2 out, in command when left well clear last, won at Sedgefield 2m 4f beg chs (4) gf in Sep beating Young Albert (11-5) by 15l, 7 ran.
Chernik (IRE) 10-3 (11-5) Led 3rd, headed 8th, led again 14th until ridden and headed approaching last, one pace flat, 3rd of 7, 10l behind Toby Jug (10-12) at Hexham 3m 1f nov stks (4) gf in May.
Keene Spirit 12-1 (11-10) Held up mid-division, lost place approaching 8th, 5th of 12, 18l behind Sarahs Gift (10-9) at Sedgefield 2m 4f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gf in Sep.
Plane Painter (IRE) 7-1 (11-6) Prominent, weakened 13th, blundered 14th, behind when pulled up before 4 out, in a race won by Irish Legend (11-6) at Worcester 2m 7f beg chs (4) gd in Sep, 11 ran.
Western Gale (IRE) 9-4 (11-9) Chased clear leader, left in lead 5th, headed 7th, hit 10th, no chance with winner from 3 out, blundered and rider lost irons last, won battle for 2nd towards finish, 2nd of 4, 19l behind R De Rien Sivola (9-11) at Uttoxeter 2m 4f beg chs (4) gs in Jul.
Guitar Rory (IRE) 7-2 (11-12) Mid-division, headway to 6th 3 out, soon ridden, no impression in 5th 2 out, kept on one pace, 7th of 14, 19l behind Shake The Bottle (11-9) at Thurles 2m 6f beg chase gd in Mar.
