behind, outpaced halfway, never dangerous
chased leaders, headway on outside over 3f out, ridden to lead over 2f out, kept on final furlong, caught post
raced keenly, held up towads rear, ridden and headway over 2f out, kept on and edged left inside final furlong
chased leaders, lost place 3f out, soon ridden and weakened
behind from halfway, tailed off
led, headed over 2f out, soon ridden, weakened over 1f out
chased leader, ridden and effort 2f out, weakened inside final furlong
held up, outpaced 3f out, headway under pressure over 2f out, stayed on strongly inside final furlong, led post
with leaders, lost place 3f out, soon ridden and beaten
Noble Pursuit, a beaten favourite last time out, may make amends here at the expense of Queensberry, Grand Lass, and Berkeley Heights. Claimers are always a bit tricky to weigh up, but the fact that there was money for Noble Pursuit suggests that Paul Blockley's charge will be fancied here, more so than his other runner Delta Force. Noble Pursuit has certainly been shunted around since scoring for Terry Mills in June 2002, having since had spells with Nick Littmoden and Paul D'Arcy without success. As a result, he has continued to tumble down the weights, and ran very encouragingly on only his second outing for Paul Blockley when fourth of 14 in a class F handicap here eight days ago. If he stays the extra distance today, the four-year-old must go close. Queensberry won the other division of that Class F handicap, appreciating the drop back in trip, having previously been found wanting over a mile and three quarters. He has a respectable chance along with Grand Lass, whose stable are always to be feared here. Bryan Smart had a couple of winners last week, so Berkeley Heights may go well at a decent price, but for the winner we return to Noble Pursuit.
