mistake 1st, held up in rear, hard ridden 8th, stayed on to chase leading trio 3 out, kept on well to press for 2nd flat, no chance with winner
not fluent, held up, steady headway 8th, chased winner 3 out, upsides and not fluent next, held last, no extra and just held on for 2nd flat
took keen hold, held up in rear, outpaced 3 out, never dangerous after
held up in touch, chased leading pair under pressure 3 out, kept on flat
in touch, mistake 4th, tracked leader next, led narrowly 9th, joined 2 out, pushed clear flat, easily
led to 2nd, chased leader to 7th, weakened 9th
always behind, struggling 3 out, tailed off
led 2nd to 9th, weakened quickly
took keen hold and raced wide, prominent, went 2nd 7th until mistake and weakened 9th
Very few of these can be given a serious chance and preference is for Polar Scout, who gets the vote ahead of Joshua's Bay and Unusual Suspect. The selection had little chance over fences off a mark of 114, but still ran well, behind Benrajah at Stratford last month but now reverts to hurdles off what looks to be a decent mark of 106 and is taken to resume winning ways. Top weight Joshua's Bay has claims on his best but faces no easy task giving weight away all round and is probably best watched. Running Times has chances at the other end of the handicap and has to be respected but more solid claims are probably held by Gary Moore's Unusual Suspect, although he would probably want more of a test of stamina than this trip provides. The Seamus Mullins-trained Correct And Right has claims on the form shown when chasing home Flinders at Hereford in October and may have needed his return at Taunton last month on his first start since then, while Time Marches On had little chance behind the well-handicapped Mr Biggglesworth at Wetherby last month and should find this company less exacting. Polar Scout holds solid claims returning to hurdles today though and gets the vote.
