chased winner, mistake 8th, lost 2nd 10th, weakened next, tailed off, lost poor 3rd before last
jumped left, chased leaders, went 2nd 10th, no chance with winner
made all, mistake 10th, drew well clear after next, unchallenged
held up, hampered 2nd, reminders after 5th, soon struggling, tailed off before 8th, went poor 3rd before last
Richard Newland's Overstrand was a good winner of a handicap hurdle at Market Rasen in November but will need to jump better today than he did on his chasing debut when well held behind Circus Of Dreams over course and distance earlier this month and a better bet looks to be FASSAROE, who gets the vote with Picaroon rated the best of the rest. The selection showed progressive form over hurdles last term and Oliver Sherwood's gelding lost no caste in defeat on his first start over fences when outpaced by Ginolad at Fontwell when last seen in December. He should have learned from that and looks worth siding with today in a race that lacks any real strength in depth in the five runners. Investment Wings got no further than the third fence first time up over the larger obstacles before unseating his rider and seems to have lost his way, while David Pearson's Young Yozza makes no appeal having been pulled up in a handicap when racing off a mark of just 64 last time. Tim Vaughan's Picaroon has run well in his last two starts over hurdles and has a similar rating to the selection but he lacks any chasing experience and preference is for Fassaroe.
Fassaroe 13-8 (11-0) Tracked leaders, led 2nd, headed next, chased winner after, weakened 3 out, 2nd of 4, 37l behind Ginolad (11-0) at Fontwell 2m 6f beg chs (4) sft in Dec.
Overstrand (IRE) 2-1 (10-11) Jumped carefully, tracked leaders, lost place 5th, went 3rd when weakening approaching 4 out, jumped left thereafter, 3rd of 5, 20l behind Circus Of Dreams (11-0) at Leicester 2m beg chase (4) hvy.
Picaroon 7-2 (11-2) Led, headed 2 out, no extra from last, 3rd of 12, 1l behind Balzaccio (11-8) at Huntingdon 2m hcp hdl 0-125 (3) gs in Dec.
Young Yozza 25-1 (10-2) In rear, behind after 5th, tailed off when pulled up before 8th, in a race won by Ray Mond (10-12) at Leicester 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-90 (5) hvy, 10 ran.
Investment Wings (IRE) 33-1 (10-9) Tracked leaders in 3rd and in rear, stumbled badly and unseated rider 3rd, in a race won by Bergo (11-8) at Ffos Las 2m nov stks (3) gd, 3 ran.
