held up, blundered 4th, ridden after 4 out, soon weakened, hung left after 3 out, 3rd and no chance when left in lead and slightly hampered 2 out, pushed out
led, clear 4 out, ridden and 5 lengths clear when fell 2 out
behind, mistake 1st, ridden and headway to go 2nd approaching 3 out, 5 lengths down when left in lead briefly and brought down 2 out
always towards rear, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
chased leader, ridden after 4 out, soon weakened, left poor 2nd 2 out
Barton Park stands out here and is selected ahead of Dalriath and Upswing. Barton Park looked pretty good when scoring at Uttoxeter last time in what was a better race than this. A seven-pounds penalty - he is due to go up by nine in future assessments - might not stop him from winning again. Dalriath is four pounds above a winning hurdling mark and has shown enough over fences to be fancied here, although he can make mistakes, while much as Upswing has been in-and-out since winning at Hexham in May 2005 from an eight-pounds lower mark than today, he is the type that could go well in this small field. Finally, Cool Chilli has become disappointing over the last 16 months and, despite being just four pounds above his Fakenham winning mark of May 2005, Gale Star's four runs since that victory have been modest. All of which returns us to the choice, which is Barton Park.
Barton Park 10-1 (10-8) Held up, headway approaching 8th, led 3 out, clear 2 out, eased flat, won at Uttoxeter 2m hcp chs 0-110 (4) gf beating Return Home (11-5) by 9l, 10 ran.
Dalriath 16-1 (11-8) Held up, effort 4 out, weakened next, 5th of 10, 16l behind Borehill Joker (11-5) at Southwell 2m 4f hcp chs 0-100 (4) gf.
Upswing 17-2 (10-3) Chased leaders, ridden 6th, soon weakened, 12th of 14, 39l behind Absolutelythebest (11-8) at Market Rasen 2m 1f nov hcp hdl 0-105 (4) gf.
Gale Star (IRE) 20-1 (10-13) Behind, brief effort after 7th, tailed off when pulled up at the 9th in race won by The Holy Bee (11-3) at Market Rasen 2m 6f hcp chs 0-95 (5) gf, 13 ran.
Cool Chilli 33-1 (9-13) Always towards rear, tailed off when pulled up in race won by Il Penseroso (10-7) at Market Rasen 2m 2f hcp chs 0-95 (5) gf, 13 ran.
