held up, mistake 8th, ridden and well behind when blundered 13th, headway 3 out, hung right flat, stayed on to lead last strides
always behind, tailed off when pulled up before 10th
chased leaders, lost place 6th, headway to go 2nd 12th, ridden after next, weakening when mistake 4 out, behind when pulled up before 2 out
always towards rear, tailed off when pulled up before 13th
led, hit 5th, headed 7th, chased leader to 12th, weakening when mistake next, 5th and no chance when fell 4 out
chased leader, led 7th, mistake 11th, ridden and 12 lengths clear when mistake 2 out, headed and no extra last strides
in touch, jumped left 6th, ridden 12th, went 2nd 4 out, weakened last
Spring Lover stepped up on the form of his reappearance run when successful over course and distance last month and there is every reason to believe that the Venetia Williams-trained gelding can follow up off his new mark so he gets the vote ahead of Luneray and Kind Sir. The last mentioned hails from the in-form stable of Tony Carroll and has to be respected but is strictly held by the selection on running here last time and is probably best left out of calculations. Top weight Beau Supreme is lightly raced and there may be more to come from the eight-year-old who makes more appeal than another eight-year-old Jupon Vert, who now seems to be plenty high enough in the weights. The handicapper has given Luneray a chance by dropping the Paul Nicholls-trained gelding by 3lbs since his last two starts but he needs to improve on the form shown in those races to trouble the selection. Laurier d'Estruval is interesting on his handicap chase debut for Simon Sherwood, especially with Mick Fitzgerald taking the ride but Spring Lover is entitled to come on for his recent success over course and distance and is taken to defy the 9lb rise in the handicap.
