held up in rear, headway approaching 2f out, ridden approaching last, ran on well to lead flat
headway approaching 3 out, ridden and weakened from next
held up in rear, smooth headway 3 out, led approaching next, ridden approaching last, headed and no extra flat
jumped badly left throughout, led and soon clear, mistake 4th, headed approaching 3 out, soon weakened
towards rear, pushed 4 out, never dangerous (wore cheek pieces)
tracked leader, led apr 3 out, ridden and headed approaching next, no extra last
ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened
tracked leaders, mistake 1st, headway after 3 out, chance when mistake next, one pace
Double Blade enjoyed a light campaign over the bigger obstacles last winter, though he has been plenty busy enough on the level this summer, running consistently without winning. Back over timber, Mary Reveley's seven-year-old should have too much speed for his rivals here and will clearly be fit from the flat. His two most likely rivals will be Night Fighter and Sweet Senorita. The latter is another member of the Pipe team making her way north and on that basis alone must merit respect, though she has a lot to prove after disappointing on her two latest starts, after a long lay off. Even the presence of A P McCoy might not be enough to get her back in the winners spot here. On the other hand Night Fighter could be the one to trouble the favourite. Norman Mason's gelding has won three times, all at around the minimum trip and all on decent ground, including his latest success at Cartmel last month. If you want to pick holes in his form then you could certainly argue that he is not as consistent as he used to be, and to support that claim you can look at his last run, when pulled up at Market Rasen. However, that was his first run over fences and can be excused as he returns to the smaller obstacles here and that may be enough to produce another good run. Perchancer is another with some ability. A decisive winner at Wetherby last season, he hasn't enjoyed the best of flat campaigns since winning at Pontefract in May, but eight flights of hurdles may well rekindle his enthusiasm.
