raced on inside, tracked winner until before 4th, remained handy, jumped slowly 6th, went 2nd again 8th, dropped to 3rd briefly before 3 out, ridden and held when not fluent last
held up in 4th, closer in 3rd at 8th, went 2nd briefly before 3 out, pushed along and outpaced in 3rd before next
sweating, held up off the pace in last, outpaced when hit 9th, weakened next
bit wide in 3rd, went 2nd before 4th until went right 8th, chased leaders, last pair and outpaced 4 out, no chance after
travelled strongly, made all, hit 2 out, clear at the last, stayed on strongly, unchallenged
NonRunner
Darebin is inconsistent but seeks a fourth victory here and is due a good run. Desque De L'Isle is 3-11 over fences and his yard is still in cracking form but he remains 6lb higher than when last successful. Somekindofstar has gone up 3lb for scoring at Fakenham while Douglas Talking has gone up 7lb for winning a novices’ handicap over 2m4f at Musselburgh on his fencing bow. TORPILLO has a touch of class but has been hard to train in recent years. However, he should have benefited greatly from his run at Cheltenham and has been dropped 5lb since.
Torpillo (FR) 10-1 (10-12) Mid-division, gradually lost place before 9th, beaten 3 out, tailed off, last of 8, dist behind Editeur Du Gite (11-7) at Cheltenham 2m hcp (2) gs in Dec.
Somekindofstar (IRE) 85-40fav (11-8) Tracked leaders, hampered 3rd, soon tracked leader, led 3 out (normal 4 out), ridden out, won at Fakenham 2m hcp (4) gs in Jan beating Doukarov (11-11) by 1 1/4l, 6 ran.
Desque De L'Isle (FR) 6-4fav (11-12) Held up in rear, not fluent 5th, headway from 7th, disputing 2nd 4 out, not fluent and no impression on winner 2 out, no extra and dropped to 4th towards finish, 4th of 6, 9 1/2l behind Billingsley (10-12) at Ffos Las 2m hcp (4) gs in Feb.
Darebin (GER) 10-1 (11-0) Chased leaders, hit 8th, weakened 4 out, left remote before 4th next, finished tired, 4th of 7, dist behind Farinet (12-2) at Sandown 2m 4f hcp (3) sft in Jan.
Douglas Talking (IRE) 9-4 (10-13) Tracked leader, led 3rd, made rest, comfortable, won at Musselburgh 2m 4f hcp (4) gs in Feb beating Broadway Joe (11-12) by 7l, 4 ran.
Paddy's Poem 25-1 (11-6) Held up, mistake 2nd, tailed off when mistake 7th (water), mistake and went left next, went badly left 9th, pulled up before next, at Sandown 2m hcp (2) hvy in Jan.