close up, until ridden and weakened before 2 out
held up last pair, headway to chase leading pair when not fluent 2 out, disputing 2nd place when mistake last, stayed on under pressure, flat but not reach winner
tracked leaders, effort and upsides 6th, steadily lost place from 2 out, eased before last
in touch, pushed and outpaced after 3 out, stayed on before last, kept on same pace flat
led and set steady pace, headed approaching 2 out, weakened quickly, (lost hind bandage at 5th)
held up last pair, smooth headway to lead before 2 out, in command last, driven out, flat
soon tracked leaders, ridden to dispute 2nd from 2 out, no impression when mistake last, one pace flat
No Refuge bids to give Howard Johnson more success in this race after the victory of Inglis Drever 12 months ago, and gets the shout over the likes of Ladalko, Gallery God and Lady Zephyr to name but three. No Refuge showed that he has a bright future over hurdles when beating the more experienced timber-topper Football Crazy at Aintree a fortnight ago, and the former Sir Mark Prescott inmate, good enough to win in decent company on the level, is taken to follow up, with Tony Dobbin taking over in the plate from the injured Graham Lee. Gallery God will be no pushover though as he was Listed class when trained by Geoff Wragg. He showed plenty of zip when scoring twice at Fontwell and will not mind this stiff finish here either as he is also blessed with stamina. Ladalko will strip fitter for his return at Chepstow where he was narrowly beaten by Knowhereat, and may be in the shake-up, without quite being up to the task today. Lady Zephyr has been well placed this season but now starts to meet classier rivals, the best of whom should be No Refuge who can go on to better things.
