held up, headway to 3rd at 7th, not flunt 9th, struggling from 11th, 3rd and no chance when hit 2out
tracked leader, challenged 10th, led 12th, came well clear before 3 out, stayed on well, ridden out
led until 12th, chased winner, no impression before 3 out, weakened from 2 out, tailed off
tracked clear leading duo until hit 7th, lost place and rear from 9th, well behind 4 out, stayed on from 2 out, went 2nd flat, never any chance with winner, tailed off
chased leading trio, pushed along after 6th and 9th, lost touch before 4 out, tailed off
There looks very little to choose between Mutual Respect and DANCEWITHTHEDEVIL in this handicap chase but with the latter potential well treated on his hurdles form Peter Bowen's charge gets the vote with Space Star looking best of the remaining trio. Having shown some ability over fences the pick ran well behind Alazan at Bangor twos starts ago in a handicap hurdle off a mark of 118. Based on that he looks light racing off a rating of 105 switch back over the big stuff. Mutual Respect should be capable of winning under this weight based on his facile success at Fakenham in May. He hasn't lived up to that in a couple of runs since and that's enough to leave a nagging doubt. Space Star hasn't had a lot of racing recently but goes well fresh and is not weighted out of a bold bid looking at the pick of his form. More Like It is now 1lb below his last winning rating over hurdles but will have to improve on his chase starts to date while Dasher Reilly looks up against it racing from well out of the handicap. This looks a two horse race and Dancewiththedeveil looks best of that pair.
Dancewiththedevil (IRE) 13-2 (10-6) Held up in mid-division, ridden and weakened after 3 out, 6th of 9, 22l behind Tiger O'toole (10-13) at Stratford 2m hcp hdl 0-135 (3) gf in May.
Mutual Respect (IRE) 7-2 (11-3) Held up in 4th/5th, not fluent 3rd or 13th, headway 16th, close enough 3 out, weakened after next, 4th of 7, 12l behind The Artful Fox (9-9) at Southwell 3m 2f hcp chs 0-115 (4) gd in Jun.
Space Star 33-1 (11-6) Held up, in rear, headway approaching 4 out, chased winner 2 out until last, no extra flat, 4th of 15, 13l behind Cesium (11-1) at Leicester 2m 4f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Feb.
More Like It (IRE) 28-1 (10-10) Held up, ridden after 10th, driven into 4th appreoaching 3 out, no impression, weakened 2 out, 4th of 7, 14l behind Chorizo (11-4) at Market Rasen 2m 6f hcp ch 0-110 (4) gd in Jun.
Dasher Reilly (USA) 28-1 (10-1) Struggling after mistake 6th, last after 9th, pulled up before next, in a race won by Clifden Boy (10-11) at Worcester 2m 7f hcp chs 0-90 (5) gs in Jun, 10 ran.
