midfield, pushed along and dropped rear 8th, behind when pulled up before next
held up towards rear, headway to chase leaders 9th, weakened quickly 12th, tailed off and pulled up before last
held up in rear, headway when mistake 12th, soon ridden and no impression
in touch, pushed along approaching 11th, effort after 3 out, one paced next
held up in midfield, weakening when blundered 11th, tailed off when pulled up before 13th
tracked leaders, weakened quickly 11th, tailed off and pulled up before last
led, ridden and headed approaching last, kept on same pace
tracked leaders, dropped rear 9th, soon lost touch, pulled up before 13th
An interesting maiden chase with, as you would expect, more questions than answers. Ability to handle the ground and stay will be clearly be the key factors, along with a decent round of jumping. Would You Believe is a rare Kim Bailey-trained runner at Sedgefield and that alone is likely to attract some market interest. He is the probable favourite and likely pace setter. However, he failed to handle heavy ground on the only previous time he has been tried on it - in a bumper - and then fell on his chasing debut at Leicester, before putting up decent enough effort last time. Though he may well stay, there are enough doubts about him to oppose him at what are perhaps going to be short odds. Of those to have achieved a rating over fences, Jackson's Hole races off the highest mark (94) and he too will have his supporters. A gelding who has performed adequately in bottomless ground, he does stay, although whether he will get home over this longer trip is a matter of debate. With a first fence fall last time also to overcome, he is overlooked on this occasion. Being by Be My Native, Spot The Native should love the ground here, and having never previously raced on it as soft as this, we could see a different performance. Having said that he has still been well beaten on all his eight starts so far, so a win would be something of a shock. Jack Be Smart makes his seasonal reappearance and has already clocked up some mileage over fences including being placed over course and distance in April of last year. However, he was pulled up on this course on his one run on heavy ground to date and despite his yard's good form he is passed over here. Only Once makes his racecourse debut and would have to be nothing special to make it a winning one. The King's Ride gelding should be at home in the ground and certainly demands respect, coming as he does from the Len Lungo-Tony Dobbin partnership. The market will perhaps provide us with our best guide to his chances. There are few others that make any appeal and so our selection here is Misty Ramble. The grey has gone close to breaking his duck on his last two outings over course and distance. With his proven ability to handle the track, trip and ground, plus his trainer's current hot form, he can finally get his nose in front at the tenth time of asking.
