chased leaders, pushed along home turn, ridden in 3rd after 2 out, no impression on front duo
in rear, lost touch 3 out, pulled up after next
led, pushed along and headed home turn, gradually weakened 2 out
mid-division, headway home turn, pressed leader 2 out, disputed lead last, ridden and led narrowly run-in, kept on until no extra and headed final strides
towards rear, handy on outer after 3rd, dropped away after 3 out, pulled up before next
mid-division, raced keenly, tracked leaders 5th, led home turn, joined final flight, pushed along and headed narrowly run-in, ridden and rallied gamely to lead again final strides
prominent, pushed along and lost position home turn, ridden and dropped away after 2 out
ASHINGTON has proved hard to place but his last victory came over course and distance 18 months ago and he is 5lb lower today with his amateur rider also claiming 7lb. Theatre Legend is another previous course winner but both of Prince Nino’s victories have come at Perth. Harper Valley and Hashtag Boum are both returning from an absence while Hartur D‘Oudairies has been a beaten favourite four times since making a winning debut over hurdles in 2021 and has also changed stables recently.
Ashington 28-1 (11-6) Prominent, lost ground after 9th and ridden along, soon in rear and beaten, detached after 3 out, 8th of 11, dist behind Equinus (11-3) at Aintree 3m 1f hcp (3) gs in Oct.
Hartur D'oudairies (FR) 10-3fav (11-13) Keen led and soon clear, reduced lead 4 out, headed next, soon weakened, 10th of 13, dist behind Pepe Le Moko (11-1) at Warwick 2m 4f hcp (4) sft in Nov.
Theatre Legend 12-1 (11-4) Led, flattened 2 out and headed, soon lost 2nd, chased leaders, weakened last, 6th of 9, 4 1/2l behind Matchless (11-8) at Musselburgh 2m hcp (3) gs in Nov.
Hashtag Boum (FR) 4-1fav (10-13) Held up towards rear, not fluent 9th, headway when hampered on inside after 3 out, ridden before 2 out, went modest 3rd last, no impression, lost 3rd flat, 6th of 9, 23 1/4l behind Giovanni Change (11-13) at Market Rasen 2m 7f hcp (3) gs in May.
Polisud (FR) 40-1 (10-2) Raced wide, close up, dropped to rear 4 out, pulled up 2 out, at Carlisle 2m 4f hcp (2) sft in Nov.
Harper Valley (IRE) 11-8fav (11-2) Prominent, still going well when making ground 2 out, pushed along in share of third on home turn, ran on strongly to lead at last, kept on gamely when hung right and ridden final 110 yards, always doing enough, won at Hexham 2m 4f (4) gd in May beating Imperial Data (11-2) by 1l, 10 ran.
Prince Nino (FR) 16-1 (11-4) Chased leader, chased new leader before 5th until after 3 out, chased leaders, plugged on same pace run-in, lost modest 3rd post, 4th of 10, 5 1/4l behind Horn Cape (12-0) at Sedgefield 2m 1f hcp (5) sft in Nov.
