held up behind, steady headway from 6th, led on bit approaching 2 out, readily
held up behind, making headway when hit 7th, ridden approaching 4 out, mistake and soon weakened, tailed off
chased leaders until 4th, behind and ridden next, headway after 7th, stayed on from next, went 2nd flat, no chance with winner
in touch, headway after 7th, led 3 out, ridden and headed next, kept on
mid-division until 5th, behind, tailed off and pulled up approaching 4 out
mid-division until 4th, behind and ridden 6th, some headway approaching 4 out, weakened next
mid-division until 7th, soon weakened, pulled up before 4 out
chased leaders until 7th, soon ridden, one pace
chased leaders, ridden and weakened after 7th, pulled up before 2 out
in touch, ridden and weakened approaching 7th, pulled up before 4 out
always behind, tailed off when pulled up before 4 out
led after 1st until 7th, soon behind
prominent when badly hampered and lost position 1st, never dangerous after, pulled up before 2 out
chased leaders, ridden and one pace from 4 out
The former Paul Nicholls inmate Joly Bey reverts to hurdles here for Nick Gifford and is well treated on his chase form but is difficult to weigh up having only had one start (winning a novice hurdle) over timber so far and we prefer to side with Willie John Daly, who is marginally preferred to Quick. The last mentioned has won all four starts over hurdles and should have been freshened up by a break since the latest of those at Plumpton two months ago. However, Martin Pipe's gelding takes a big step up in class today and may be best passed over. Glacial Evening has won his last two starts but has gone up 20lbs for those successes and of more interest may be Emphatic, who lost no caste in defeat behind the unexposed Ken'tucky at Ludlow last time. Zero Risk, who was going well until losing his jockey last time, would probably prefer a softer surface, while Toon Trooper faces no easy task on his handicap debut. The selection then is Willie John Daly, who holds solid claims on form, remains open to improvement after just four starts over hurdles and represents a stable in form.