prominent, left in lead 9th, ridden after 2 out, driven and stayed on flat
held up in last, not much room 1st, headway when not fluent 9th, hit 4 out, went 3rd after 2 out, stayed on to take 2nd flat, not able to trouble winner
led, clear 4th, 4 lengths ahead when went left and fell 9th
held up, headway 7th, blundered next, hampered and left 2nd next until approaching 3 out, weakened before next, tailed off
held up behind leaders, hampered 9th, went 2nd approaching 3 out, no impression on winner when demoted to 3rd flat
prominent, ridden 5th, hit next and lost place, lost touch 8th, behind next, pulled up after
Novikov had a pipe-opener on the all-weather a couple of weeks ago but Song Sung Blue hasn't had much racing lately. War Party is back on a decent mark but appears to have lost his way and Johnny Mullen usually finds a couple too good, though didn't stay a longer trip last time. Wester Ross took a while to get the hang of jumping fences but has now scored at Ludlow and Leicester and will make a bold bid to give 6lb to LORD SINGER. Gary Moore's seven-year-old had War Party behind when runner-up at Taunton last time and a repeat of that effort would probably suffice here.
Song Sung Blue (IRE) 4-1 (11-12) Tracked leaders, weakened from 5 out, 6th of 8, 36l behind As De Fer (11-12) at Ffos Las 3m hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft in Nov.
Wester Ross (IRE) 11-2 (11-5) Held up in 4th, went 3rd and closed 4 out, switched left after 2 out, not fluent last, led flat, ran on well, won at Leicester 2m nov chs (4) gd in Jan beating Mark Twain (10-9) by 4l, 4 ran.
Lord Singer (FR) 11-1 (10-6) Mid-division, headway 3rd, led 7th, headed after 4 out, stayed on same pace last, 2nd of 10, 6l behind Renard (11-12) at Taunton 2m hcp chs 0-135 (3) gs in Jan.
Novikov 4-1 (11-6) Chased leaders, pushed along 7th, every chance when bad mistake 4 out, weakened next, last of 8, 49l behind Oneway (11-7) at Worcester 2m hcp chs 0-135 (3) gd in Sep '10.
War Party 14-1 (10-11) Held up towards rear, headway approaching 7th, 3rd when jumped slowly 3 out, blundered and no impression next, 4th when mistake last, 5th of 10, 13l behind Renard (11-12) at Taunton 2m hcp chs 0-135 (3) gs in Jan.
Johnny Mullen (IRE) 9-1 (10-3) Held up, struggling 13th, tailed off, 8th of 14, well behind Hunt Ball (10-6) at Wincanton 2m 5f hcp chs 0-130 (3) gs in Jan.
