held up in touch, headway approaching 3 out, led 2 out, soon clear, comfortably
towards rear, headway 3 out, soon ridden, no impression
in touch, ridden approaching 3 out, effort next, one paced under pressure
held up in touch, led 3 out, headed 2 out, no chance with winner
held up in touch, headway 4 out, outpaced after 3 out, kept on approaching last
tracked leaders, mistake 1st, weakened approaching 3 out
towards rear, never dangerous
always behind, tailed off and pulled up before 2 out
mid-division, pushed along halfway, soon ridden and weakened
in touch, effort approaching 2 out, one pace under pressure
pulled hard, led, headed 3 out, weakened next
tracked leader, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out
A field large in numbers but low in quality goes to post for this novices hurdle but on closer inspection not many can be given a serious chance of winning but the principals look to be Second Paige, Thumper and Fly Kicker and we will take a chance on Thumper. The gelding from the Johnjo O'Niel yard was a good winner last time out at Worcester when defeating Gondola. He is sure to have come on for that run and he will be hard to beat under similar conditions here. Second Paige rates the main danger he is improving all the time and has won his last three races in good style however he may struggle to give 10 pounds and a beating to Thumper. Fly Kicker was a fair second in a handicap last time out at Hexham behind Envious but this looks tougher. Prize Ring won a two horse race last time out so is hard to evaluate so we are happy to side with the lightly raced Thumper who is open to plenty of improvement.