led, pressed before 4 out, soon pushed along, headed and not fluent 4 out, ridden before 2 out, weakened after last
handy on outside, ridden and outpaced before 4 out, stayed on again from before last, no chance with winner
held up towards rear, not fluent 12th, ridden before 4 out, not fluent 4 out or 3 out, mistake last, kept on but no match for winner
tracked leaders, ridden and outpaced before 3 out, weakened before 2 out
held up in rear, in touch, jumped well, headway into 3rd 13th, pressed leader home turn, led travelling strongly 4 out, went clear from 2 out, hard held
CHAMP IS REAL showed nothing over hurdles at huge prices but it was a different matter on his chasing debut here 10 days ago when landing a huge gamble despite being 11lb out of the handicap. It isn’t surprising that connections bring him here with a penalty and he’ll be at short odds to complete a double. Emirat De Catana, who was beaten almost 10 lengths into third, and sixth-placed Spider’s Bite, look held so Rapid Raider, who completed a hat-trick at the backend of last year, looks the main threat despite looking high in the weights at Newcastle last time. Course and distance winner Definite Wisdom has had a couple of runs over hurdles after losing his confidence over fences.
Spider's Bite (IRE) 12-1 (11-8) Prominent, led 14th, headed 4 out, ridden and weakened approaching last, 6th of 10, 26 3/4l behind Champ Is Real (10-0) at Musselburgh 3m hcp (5) sft in Feb.
Definite Wisdom (IRE) 14-1 (11-11) Prominent, led 4th, headed 6th, pushed along after 4 out, weakening in 7th 2 out, 9th of 12, 35 1/2l behind Bird On The Wire (11-12) at Doncaster 3m hcp (5) gs in Jan.
Rapid Raider (IRE) 5-1 (11-11) Prominent, mistake 7th, lost place before mistake 11th, soon beaten, mistake 3 out, 6th of 12, 15 3/4l behind Knocknamona (10-11) at Newcastle 2m 4f hcp (5) sft in Jan.
Emirat De Catana (FR) 9-2 (10-1) Led, headed 2nd, led again 7th, headed 14th, prominent, ridden and every chance 4 out, kept on one pace, 3rd of 10, 9 3/4l behind Champ Is Real (10-0) at Musselburgh 3m hcp (5) sft in Feb.
Champ Is Real 5-4fav (10-0) In touch, headway to track leaders 4 out, chased leader 2 out, every chance next, ridden to lead run in, ran on, won at Musselburgh 3m hcp (5) sft in Feb beating Shanbally Rose (10-0) by 2 1/4l, 10 ran.
