led and keen, hit 9th, headed 11th, weakened after 4 out
tracked leaders, went 2nd 8th, led 11th, jumped slowly 4 out, soon ridden, headed when mistake last, not recover
always in rear, mistake 11th, pulled up after next
held up, hampered 10th, headway 14th, left in lead last, kept on, cleverly
held up, behind from 12th
held up, headway 11th, chased leader 14th, ridden and every chance 2 out, held when hit last
held up, headway 8th, tracking leaders when mistake 13th, weakened after 3 out
tracked leader, mistake and unseated rider 10th
Plenty of exposed horses here and the tentative vote goes to Chicago Bulls ahead of Our Man In Bangkok. Emma Lavelle's nine-year-old has been given a break since his last run when a fair enough fourth and seeing as his last win (quite a while ago) came on good ground, trip and conditions looks ideal. This is a weak contest and Our Man In Bangkok looks the major danger having finished a decent third on his racecourse debut behind Ferdy Murphy's improving Three Mirrors. That form has since been franked by the last-named scoring on Friday and with improvement to come, he looks a likely danger. Keenan's Future has the ability if putting it all together but he isn't straight-forward, so of more interest may Vanishing Dancer who has shaped with some promise in his starts over fences to date. Watch the market for clues about those returning from big absences, but without that information we will side with Chicago Bulls to net the prize.
Bay Of Kinsale (IRE) 2-1fav (11-7) pulled up in race won by Cheeky Lad (11-7) at Point To Point 2m 4f ptp gd in Apr '05, 12 ran.
Chicago Bulls (IRE) 12-1 (11-12) In touch, not fluent 3rd, chased leader after 7th, effort approaching 2 out, soon weakened, 4th of 9, 23l behind Helm (11-2) at Taunton 3m hcp hdl 0-120 (3) gs in Dec.
Honourable Collins (IRE) 14-1 (12-0) Prom til wknd 4 out, 6th of 10, 28l behind Brother Oscar (11-7) at Kingston Blount 2m 4f ptp gd in May.
Keenan's Future (IRE) 20-1 (10-9) Held up, hung and jumped violently left from 5th, tailed off when ran out 9th ran out at the 9th in race won by From Dawn To Dusk (11-0) at Exeter 2m 3f nov chs (3) gs in Mar, 10 ran.
Lord Gunnerslake (IRE) 20-1 (11-3) Soon in rear and never going well after, struggling 8th, tailed off when mistake 10th, pulled up before next pulled up 4 out in race won by Pan The Man (11-9) at Plumpton 2m 4f sll hcp chs 0-100 (4) gf, 7 ran.
Montenda 50-1 (10-9) Held up towards rear, always behind, 9th of 16, 41l behind Mighty Moose (10-8) at Chepstow 2m 3f nov hcp chs 0-100 (4) gd in Mar.
Vanishing Dancer (SWI) 16-1 (10-11) Held up and mistakes, plugged on, took 2nd approaching last, 2nd of 5, 16l behind Ice Crystal (10-9) at N Abbot 3m 2f nov chs (3) gf.
Dickinsbury Lass 25-1 (10-6) Jumped left 1st, always in rear, ridden 14th, pulled up before 4 out pulled up in race won by Ice Crystal (10-9) at N Abbot 3m 2f nov chs (3) gf, 5 ran.
Our Man In Bangkok 16-1 (11-3) In touch, chased leaders halfway, led 4 out, headed next, weakened last, 3rd of 6, 10l behind Three Mirrors (11-3) at Market Rasen 2m 4f beg chs (4) gs in Mar.
Red Square Knight (IRE) 5-2 (12-0) 2nd of 10, 12l behind Shaking Chief (12-0) at Brampton Bryan 3m ptp gs in Mar '04.
