in touch, struggling when not fluent 6th, soon weakened, well behind when pulled up before 2 out
chased winner until bad mistake and lost place second, weakened 5th, tailed off
tracked leaders, chased winner 5th, ridden approaching 3 out, lost 2nd and weakened approaching 2 out
prominent, chased winner second until 5th, ridden next, stayed on to go 2nd approaching 2 out, no chance with winner
held up, some headway 5th, weakened next, tailed off
mid-division, never near leaders
always behind, mistake 4th, tailed off, pulled up before 5th
mid-division, not fluent 3rd, soon struggling, well behind 5th, tailed off when mistake 3 out
made all, clear approaching 2 out comfortably
always behind, tailed off from 5th
An interesting novice hurdle can go to Marcel, with his main dangers looking to be Alroyal, Selvas and Dawton. Looking at the runners. Alroyal has looked progressive in scoring on his last two starts,as has multiple Polish winner Dawton, who is said to prefer good or faster going so monitor the weather. Power Unit scored well over course and distance but then ran very disappointingly at Newton Abbot. Selvas also won two before finishing third at Bangor, where it was reported that the horse was not ideally suited by the sharp track. Well, Stratford is sharper than Bangor, which adds a curiosity to this race analysis. Buffalo Bill comes into the reckoning on his British debut because he has shown a decent level of novice form in Ireland, but Looking Down's win last time came in a seller and more is needed today. It would be foolish to overlook a Martin Pipe runner at this level so French import Marcel, who showed fair form in four starts in his native country also comes into the reckoning. The winner should come from one of these with our vote, once again, going to Marcel.
