held up, headway and effort approaching 3 out, soon one pace
held up in rear, headway to chase leaders approaching 3 out, ridden and one pace next
close up, led 8th, headed 3 out, every chance between last 2, no extra flat
close up until outpaced approaching 2 out
in touch, effort approaching 3 out, soon no impression
in touch until ridden weakened approaching 2 out
in touch to halfway, behind from 8th, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
chased leaders to halfway, behind from 7th
held up in mid-divisionh, headway 8th, pushed clear flat
led to 8th, weakend 3 out
towards rear, blundered 6th, never dangerous
Rifleman gets the call here ahead of Hollows Mill and Darnley. Rifleman is reasonably weighted based on his best 2006 effort, which came here but over further; however, he is not ruled out of a good run. A return to his best 2006 form wuold give Hollows Mill a big chance, while Yankee Holiday scores high for consistency but has a career-high mark to defy if he is to score. Darnley's third to Insurgent two runs ago reads very well in the context of this race, but Whatcanysay has yet to build on his Sedgefield win of last month. With Extra Cache not having had much racing of late and the bottom three being out of the weights, although No Kidding would hold claims based on his fiorm of a year ago, we return to the selection, which is Rifleman.
Rifleman (IRE) 16-1 (10-9) Prominent, outpaced after 3 out, 6th of 14, 34l behind Poker De Sivola (11-8) at Hexham 2m 4f nov hdl (4) gf in Apr.
Hollows Mill 7-1 (10-5) Behind, ridden 4 out, never dangerous, 7th of 11, 20l behind Nifty Roy (10-5) at Carlisle 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) gd in Apr.
Yankee Holiday (IRE) 4-1fav (10-9) Chased leader, led 8th, blundered and jumped badly right last and headed, one pace, 2nd of 12, 3l behind Insurgent (10-7) at Kelso 2m 1f hcp chs 0-100 (4) gs in Apr.
Hiddenfortune (IRE) 20-1 (10-4) Prominent until lost place 6th, behind when blundered and unseated rider at the 9th in race won by Trading Trouble (10-11) at Perth 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-115 (3) gs in Apr, 11 ran.
Drumossie (AUS) 12-1 (11-7) Mid-division, headway 3rd, chased winner 11th until 4 out, weakening when mistake 2 out, tailed off, 7th of 13, well behind Fieldsofclover (11-11) at Worcester 2m 4f hcp chs 0-100 (4) gf in Apr.
Darnley 25-1 (11-3) In touch, lost place 6th, soon weakened, tailed off when pulled up 4 out in race won by Prince Adjal (10-12) at Perth 3m amt hcp hdl 0-100 (4) sft in Apr, 14 ran.
Whatcanyasay 7-1 (10-8) Mid-division, hampered 9th, chased winner 12th to 16th, soon outpaced, behind when pulled up 4 out in race won by Rainbow Tree (11-5) at Sedgefield 3m 3f nov hcp chs 0-90 (5) gf in Apr, 10 ran.
Extra Cache (NZ) 17-2 (10-0) In touch, chased winner from 9th, one pace and no impression from 4 out, 2nd of 10, 25l behind Rookery Lad (11-5) at Wetherby 2m 4f hcp chs 0-100 (4) gf in Apr '06.