held up in touch, lost place 9th, no danger after
mistake 8th, always behind, tailed off
always prominent, ridden 4 out, left 2 lengths 2nd when hampered 2 out, no extra
mid-division, headway when hit 10th, weakened 3 out, badly hampered 2 out
prominent, led 3rd to 5th, led 11th to 13th, led approaching 2 out, ran on
jumped mostly left, mid-division, headway 8th, hit 3 out, chased winner last, kept on
led to 3rd, led 5th, headed 11th, led again 13th, ridden and narrowly headed when fell 2 out
held up towards rear, not fluent 8th, never near leaders
held up, jumped right 3rd, mistake 10th, tailed off 13th, pulled up before 2 out
held up, hit 10th, headway 12th, weakening when badly hampered 2 out, pulled up before last
Englishtown is selected here ahead of Sha Bihan and Fill The Bunker. Working through these and Elvis Returns now races from a mark that is two pounds above his last winning mark. That coupled with the addition of cheekpieces means that he has to be given some thought today. Tanterari is now back to a winning mark from October and, much as he has been disappointing since, a return to form cannot be entirely ruled out. Sha Bihan ran well from today's mark at Newbury last time, and that puts him in the mix. Marked Man is well weighted on his best 2004 form and showed a glimmer of his old ability last time. Liverpool Echo is another that needs to turn back the clock in order to feature, while despite a rise of nine pounds for his Leicester win, Englishtown is still fairly weighted on his best hurdling form and can go well, even though he fell at Wincanton last time. Fill The Bunker hails from a stable in good form and his second to Parkinson last time reads well, while Malko de Beaumont can't be ruled out racing from six pounds above a winning rating. Finally, Bee Hawk has yet to reproduce his hurdling efforts over fences, while Jaoka du Gord is well-weighted based on 2005 form but has not been seen on the racecourse very often since. A tricky race, then, in which Englishtown gets the vote.
Elvis Returns 10-1 (11-2) Always behind, 8th of 10, 37l behind Garryvoe (11-1) at Stratford 4m hcp chs 0-135 (3) gs in Feb.
Tanterari (IRE) 10-1 (10-12) Outpaced and dropped to rear 11th, never going well after, tailed off, 4th of 5, well behind Reflected Glory (11-12) at Sandown 3m hcp chs 0-135 (3) sft.
Sha Bihan (FR) 11-4 (11-2) Pressed leader, led 4 out to next, every chance last, unable to quicken flat, 2nd of 5, 2l behind New Entic (11-2) at Newbury 2m 6f nov hcp chs 0-125 (3) sft.
Marked Man (IRE) 16-1 (11-0) Mid-division, hit 6th, blundered 8th, ridden after 13th, weakened, 5th of 13, 20l behind He's The Gaffer (10-11) at Wincanton 2m 5f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd.
Liverpool Echo (FR) 16-1 (11-8) Held up, blundered 4th, behind from 12th, 5th of 10, 35l behind Parkinson (10-13) at Ludlow 3m hcp chs 0-125 (3) gs.
Englishtown (FR) 3-1 (10-3) In touch, mistake 5th, chasing leaders when unseated rider at the 8th in race won by Lucifer Bleu (10-12) at Wincanton 2m 5f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft in Feb, 8 ran.
Fill The Bunker (IRE) 3-1 (10-7) Led 3rd, ridden and headed 4 out, rallied 2 out, soon held, 2nd of 10, 5l behind Parkinson (10-13) at Ludlow 3m hcp chs 0-125 (3) gs.
Malko de Beaumont (FR) 10-1 (11-3) Towards rear, stayed on moderately from 3 out, 6th of 12, 24l behind Scarlet Mix (11-4) at Warwick 2m 5f hcp hdl 0-110 (4) sft.
Beehawk 25-1 (11-0) Towards rear when unseated rider at the 7th in race won by Le Rochelais (11-9) at Hereford 2m 3f hcp chs 0-120 (3) sft in Feb, 11 ran.
Jaoka du Gord (FR) 13-2 (10-12) Held up, struggling 13th, tailed off when pulled up 4 out in race won by Mage d'Estruval (11-1) at Bangor 3m hcp chs 0-120 (3) hvy, 6 ran.
