made all, clear approaching 3 out, ran on well
tracked winner, not fluent 3rd or 6th, hit 8th, jumped slowly and demoted to 3rd 11th, ridden 13th, well held when hit 3 out, blundered 2 out
tracked leaders, niggled along after 7th and again when chasing winner 11th, ridden after 4 out, no impression before next, one pace
raced in last, reminders after 6th, not fluent and losing touch 9th, well behind 11th, jumped right and tailed off 5 out, soon pulled up
This looks a cracking little contest made all the more difficult as the two penalised runners are both committed front runners. Dover's Hill has the slightly better form of the two and was a convincing scorer at Wincanton last time - he has gained all three of his successes going right-handed so this track should suit ideally. However, FIN VIN DE LEU is very much on the upgrade, arrives here in search of a hat-trick and looks open to further progress. He gets the narrowest of votes. Helpston complicates matters further as he showed plenty of potential on his chasing debut, receives plenty of weight from the aforementioned pair and has always looks a real chaser in the making.
Dover's Hill 13-8 (11-1) Led, ridden 17th, headed approaching 4 out, rallied to regain lead 3 out, clear from next, stayed on well, won at Wincanton 3m 1f nov chs (3) gf in Mar beating Silver Kate (11-1) by 22l, 4 ran.
Fin Vin de Leu (GER) 7-4fav (11-3) Made all, mistake 5 out, ridden after 3 out, drew clear after next, easily, won at Newton Abbot 3m 2f nov chs (3) gs in Mar beating Aldertune (11-4) by 14l, 4 ran.
Helpston 15-2 (10-12) Took keen hold, tracked leaders, went 2nd 2nd, led 5th until 10th, pushed along 13th, went 2nd last, edged right and no impression on winner flat, lost 2nd post, 3rd of 5, 6l behind Master Of The Hall (11-4) at Huntingdon 3m nov chs (3) sft in Jan.
Rester Vrai (FR) 100-1 (10-8) Mid-division, pushed along before 7th, soon weakened, 9th of 13, 47l behind Traffic Chaos (10-12) at Southwell 2m 4f NH mdn hdl (4) gd in Mar.
Alderley Rover (IRE) 25-1 (11-4) Prominent, ridden and lost place after 15th, soon behind, tailed off, 16th of 24, well behind Junior (11-6) at Cheltenham 3m 1f Am hcp chs 0-140 (2) gd in Mar.
