held up on outside, jumped right and niggled along from 6th, not fluent 4 out, driven and no impression, stayed on last, gaining towards finish
tracked leaders, ridden after 4 out, outpaced by leding pair from 2 out, stayed on towards finish, no impression
held up in rear, blundered badly 4th, closing when stumbled 5 out, blundered 4 out, eased and pulled up 3 out
held up, took keen hold, went prominent, from 5th, led 8th, soon headed, led 5 out, not fluent 3 out, headed and hit next, held flat, stayed on towards finish
refused to race
led after 1st, mistake 2nd and 5th, headed 8th, soon led again, headed 5 out, weakened 3 out
held up in touch, took keen hold, went 2nd approaching 4 out, led 2 out, driven out
led until after 1st, prominent, ridden approaching 5 out, weakened from 4 out
Noble Crusader and BASEBALL TED both won last time out and may be the pair to concentrate on with much of the opposition struggling to recapture their best form. The former hasn't run since winning on his reappearance at Lingfield in November, however, so the latter gets the vote even though he could only finish third to Babe Heffron at Lingfield in January. Charlie Longsdon's nine-year-old is better off at the weights now, despite scoring easily at Leicester last month, and today's less testing surface is also in his favour. Qulinton has ability though would probably prefer faster ground and a longer trip, but Wessex King may have needed his latest run at Ascot and could get involved.
Noble Crusader (USA) 11-2 (11-9) In touch until ridden along and struggling in rear 5th, driven and rallied to 3rd before 3 out, chased leader 2 out, 3 lengths down approaching last, stayed on under strong pressure to lead towards finish, won at Lingfield 2m hcp chs 0-125 (3) sft in Nov beating King Ozzy (11-4) by 1/2l, 6 ran.
Qulinton (FR) 13-2 (11-10) Held up mid-division, not fluent 5th, soon lost place, weakened 9th, 7th of 9, well behind As De Fer (11-1) at Exeter 2m 3f hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft in Feb.
Wessex King (IRE) 12-1 (10-5) Held up in rear, not much room 2nd, headway 3 out, not fluent last, not able to trouble leaders, 5th of 13, 7l behind Anquetta (10-3) at Sandown 2m hcp chs 0-145 (2) gd in Feb.
Fiftyonefiftyone (IRE) 14-1 (10-12) Prominent, led 5th until next, led and mistake 7th, jumped left, bumped and headed next, lost place approaching 13th, soon in rear, pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by Forget It (10-12) at Wincanton 2m 5f nov chs (3) sft in Jan, 9 ran.
Zacharova (IRE) 12-1 (10-2) Refused to race, in a race won by Anquetta (10-3) at Sandown 2m hcp chs 0-145 (2) gd in Feb, 13 ran.
Babe Heffron (IRE) 13-2 (11-12) Close up, led 2nd, ridden and headed before 2 out, pecked last, no extra when lost 2nd place last 100 yards, 3rd of 7, 5l behind Border Reiver (10-7) at Wetherby 2m 4f hcp chs 0-115 (4) sft in Jan.
Baseball Ted (IRE) 3-1 (11-10) Took keen hold, tracked leaders, went 2nd 7th, led 4 out, drew clear after 2 out, stayed on well, won at Leicester 2m hcp ch 0-110 (4) gd in Feb beating Randjo (11-8) by 8l, 7 ran.
Its Crucial (IRE) 20-1 (11-2) Mistake and lost place 1st, behind, struggling 10th, lost touch and pulled up before 12th, in a race won by Aerial (11-11) at Wincanton 2m 5f hcp chs 0-130 (3) gs in Feb, 9 ran.
