held up in touch, headway 7th, hit 10th, challenged winner from 3 out, ridden after next, stayed on well flat, just failed
in touch, headway approaching 7th, ridden approaching 4 out, weakened quickly 2 out, tailed off
in touch, joined leader briefly 6th, lost place after next, ridden and outpaced 10th, rallied approaching 3 out, weakened before next
joined leader 3rd, led 6th, ridden after 2 out, held on gamely near post
led until 6th, ridden and weakened approaching 4 out, tailed off
Only five turn out for this, but it is trappy nonetheless. Wise King has been a grand servant for Jim Old, but he is getting no younger and has gone over three years without winning. However, his trainer also had Wain Mountain entered in this, so it may be premature to write off Wise King. The front-running Percy Parkeeper was well held off this mark last time, but he could prove dangerous if allowed too much of a free role up front, while the ground may well be plenty fast enough for Nicky Henderson's Ifni Du Luc. The TeamTalk vote goes to Sir Toby to continue his winning run. Although he was only a narrow winner last time, he wasn't suited to making his own running and with the pace likely to be set by Percy Parkeeper in this, he should have the race run to suit.