keen in rear, tailed off approaching 7th
held up, jumped left and hit 1st, not fluent 5th, ridden and headway after 3 out, chased winner 2 out, led after last, no extra when headed close home
chased leaders, led after 3 out, idled approaching last, soon headed, rallied to lead flat, ridden out
led, headed after 3 out, soon weakened
prominent, hit 4th, chased winner and ridden after 3 out, one pace from next
chased leaders until 6th, weakened 3 out
prominent, weakened quickly approaching 3 out, pulled up before 2 out
Being by Roselier, Grey Shark should improve for the step up in trip and has the assistance of Nina Carberry so a chance is taken with Paul Keane's gelding, who gets the vote over Pitminster and Purple Patch. The last mentioned has shown enough in non-handicaps to suggest that she can be competitive off her current mark and has to be respected. Toulouse-Lautrec looks well treated on chase form but has yet to show that he is as effective over timber and a bigger threat may come from Pitminster. The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding is less exposed than many of his rivals and is hard to discount given the form of the stable. Martin Pipe's Philippa Yeates has given little sign of encouragement in three starts so far but may do better know that she tackles handicaps, while Joizel is hard to recommend first time up. There should be no problems on that score with the selection now that Paul Keane's stable is among the winners and Grey Shark gets the vote under the impressive Nina Carberry.
