held up in rear, ridden and weakened after 3 out
held up mid-division, headway 6th, in touch with leading trio when bad mistake 2 out, not recover
in touch, driven and jumped slowly 4th, soon lost place, rallied again briefly 2 out
in touch, ridden to chase leaders 3 out, weakened approaching last
held up in rear, steady headway after 3 out, ridden to chase leaders 2 out
tracked leaders and keen, led approaching 2 out, ridden, challenged last, ran on well
towards rear, headway 3 out, soon ridden and weakened
mid-division, ridden when hit 3 out, weakened next
prominent, ridden and weakened 3 out
led, ridden when headed approaching 2 out, kept on for slight chance last, weakened flat
The vote here goes to La Limbertine ahead of Almah and, possibly, Dancing Pearl. La Limbertine absolutely bolted up over course and distance last time out and, despite having been raised 12 pounds for that effort, could still have some improvement to come. Almah is also progressive and comes here seeking a three-timer following easy wins at Towcester and Leicester. Her stable is also in form so grant her all due respect, while the presence of Bongo Fury in the line-up will give Martin Pipe a handle on how good his pair are in relation to one another, but the chances are that the selection is a fair bit better and that gives another tick in a right box. Vicars Destiny is better over further and with Nicky Henderson's team not firing at present, Magic Mistress is hard to fancy. However, Dancing Pearl ran Avitta close at Haydock last time and holds place claims, while Neltina reverts to hurdling after falling on her chasing debut but, lightly raced and capable over the smaller obstacles, could go well. Kentford Grebe cannot be ruled out based on her Listed race win at Newbury last March although each of her wins has been gained on good going. Once again, then, in an interesting race the vote goes to La Limbertine.
