held up behind, good headway approaching 11th, close 4th when pecked, unseated rider 12th
held up, slightly hampered bend approaching 4th, headway 12th, ridden in 3rd after 4 out, weakened approaching last
tracked leaders, led, hit 4 out, ridden, narrowly headed approaching last, kept on
mid-division, headway 10th, challenged after 4 out, led approaching last, ridden out
prominent, led 11th, headed approaching 4 out, weakened approaching 3 out
held up, hampered bend approaching 4th, reminders after 7th, never dangerous
chased leaders until 8th, weakened approaching 4 out
mid-division, not much room 5th, weakened 12th
led until 11th, weakening when hit 4 out, tailed off
Provided that the ground doesn't get too quick for him, Armaturk is probably capable of defying top weight over this trip in which only two of them are in the handicap, while Twenty Degrees and Red Man look best of the rest. Paul Nicholls loves having winners here and Armaturk already has a win to his name over this trip, even though he has been more successful over shorter. However, this lot don't look anything like quick enough to draw any major stamina doubts from him and with a clear round he should win. Twenty Degrees is the only other runner set to carry the correct weight here and he will definitely stay and also act on the ground, whatever the description, so if you are looking to take on the likely favourite then he looks the strongest in opposition, though he has now got plenty of weight for what he has achieved. Red Man made his return to rules a winning one when scoring over slightly shorter at Hereford last time and now tries to defy a career high mark from 3lb out of the handicap, so he will do well to follow up. Trip and ground will suit Seafield Bogie, but he is not one to get too excited about, and with the others having lots to find then we'll side with Armaturk tonight.
Armaturk (FR) 2-5fav (11-9) Close up, ridden 4 out, one pace from 2 out, 5th of 15, 16l behind Only Dreams (11-9) at Leicester 2m hts chs (5) gd in Mar.
Twenty Degrees 5-2 (11-12) Held up in touch, headway 5th, chased leader 4 out, ridden approaching next, one pace, 3rd of 9, 28l behind Alvino (11-12) at Ludlow 2m 4f hts chs (5) gd in Apr.
Red Man (IRE) 10-1 (11-7) Held up in touch, blundered badly 4 out, led after 2 out, stayed on well flat, won at Hereford 2m 3f hts chs (6) gd beating De Luain Gorm (11-11) by 7l, 14 ran.
Seafield Bogie (IRE) 10-1 (12-0) Mid-division, headway 11th, chased winner 13th, weakened 2 out, 4th of 16, 21l behind Jurado Express (11-11) at Cheltenham 2m 5f hts chs (4) gd.
Dante's Back (IRE) 9-4 (11-0) In tch til wknd 4 out, 4th of 5, 18l behind Kingsmill Lake (10-7) at Flete Park 3m ptp gd in Apr.
Howard Howard 5-2 (11-0) Hdwy 7; went 2nd aft 13; one pce 2 out, 2nd of 6, 11l behind Lady Myfanwy (10-7) at Cold Harbour 3m ptp gd.
Doof (IRE) 4-5fav (12-7) Led til hdd & wknd app 2 out, last of 2, 6l behind Stone Valley (12-0) at Trebudannon 3m 4f ptp sft in Mar.
Fruitfull Citizen (IRE) 8-1 (10-10) In touch, led 9th, headed after 11th, soon ridden, kept on, no chance with winner from 3 out, 2nd of 13, 13l behind Milesian King (11-3) at Exeter 2m 3f hts chs (5) gf.
Deep King (IRE) 14-1 (10-4) Led 1st, headed 4th, led again 5th, headed approaching 7th, weakened approaching last, 5th of 7, 20l behind Twist Bookie (11-10) at Stratford 2m 1f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gf in Oct.
