Amadeus has proven to be expensive to follow and is difficult to back with great confidence so preference is for Yassar, who gets the vote ahead of Lost In Normandy. The last mentioned has claims on the pick of his form, including on a similar surface, but is probably a shade high in the weights at present. Wee William is less exposed than most of these and has to be of interest in receipt of weight all round but needs to improve to trouble the selection, while at the other end of the handicap Protagonist has given little sign of encouragement of late. The vote then goes to Yassar who has run with some consistency of late and a reproduction of recent evidence should suffice.
Protagonist 10-1 (10-11) Held up, headway 5th, ridden 7th, weakening when blundered 4 out, 5th of 11, 38l behind Jack Fuller (10-9) at Leicester 2m 4f hcp chs 0-105 (4) sft in Feb.
Yassar (IRE) 6-1 (11-11) Prominent, mistake 8th, ridden and every chance 2 out, weakened last, 4th of 12, 11l behind Glen Thyne (10-0) at Towcester 2m hcp chs 0-95 (5) gs in Feb.
Amadeus (AUS) 7-2 (9-6) Mid-division, ridden after 3 out, no impression, 3rd of 10, 20l behind Polar Gunner (11-7) at Sedgefield 2m 1f cnd hcp hdl 0-110 (4) hvy in Feb.
Lost In Normandy (IRE) 13-2 (10-2) Held up, headway 13th, ridden 16th, weakened 4 out, tailed off and pulled up 2 out in race won by Calvic (11-8) at Bangor 3m 6f hcp chs 0-120 (3) gs in Feb, 11 ran.
Wee William 20-1 (11-12) Held up towards rear, effort 4 out, never on terms, 5th of 13, 30l behind King's Bounty (11-7) at Market Rasen 2m 6f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Feb.
