held up, headway 5th, tracked leaders after 2 out, led last, ran on well, pushed out
led until 3 out, soon weakened
in touch, headway 5th, led 2 out, ridden and headed last, lost 2nd final strides
held up, some headway after 2 out, soon weakened
always towards rear
chased leaders, ridden after 2 out, 5th and weakening when blundered last
chased leaders, ridden approaching 2 out, weakened quickly
chased leaders until ran off course and pulled up before 5th
in touch, ridden and one pace from 2 out
held up, headway 6th, chased leaders and ridden after 2 out, one pace
always towards rear
mid-division, headway after 6th, ridden after 2 out, kept on same pace
towards rear, ridden and steady headway from 5th, stayed on well from 2 out, went 2nd final strides
Hardly the appetiser for Cheltenham with some modest performers on view but we shall take a real flyer by going for Transatlantic in preference to Earn Out and Hail The King. Henry Daly's charge is returning from over a year off but he had some decent flat form before then and if he's cherry ripe the market will speak volumes. Earn Out looked to have a desperate seller in the bag on her last racecourse start before emptying out quickly. She is dropped back to seventeen furlongs today. Hail The King produced a decent run behind McBain earlier in the season but has not progressed. Irish trainer Dusty Sheehy has a rare non-festival runner in Sarobar and this is watched in the market. Of the remainder, Alva Glen was a very decent flat horse in his day but proved to be a hideously expensive mistake for his first set of National Hunt owners and he has been jettisoned out to Bernard Llewellyn's yard for relative peanuts. A poor contest in which Transatlantic appears the much more appealing alternative at the likely odds.
Golden Chalice (IRE) 11-1 Held up in mid-division, headway after 3 out, challenged 2 out, one pace from last, 3rd of 13, 11l behind Space Star at Taunton 2m 1f cnd hcp hdl 0-105 (E) gs.
Sarobar (IRE) 20-1 Chased leaders, ridden in 6th approaching straight, no impression from well before 2 out, 7th of 15, 12l behind Loughanelteen at Gowran Park 2m 1f hcp hdl hvy in Jan.
Wages 10-1 Mid-division, some headway 5th, ridden and weakened 3 out, 10th of 16, well behind Pure Mischief at Ludlow 2m hcp hdl 0-105 (E) sft in Dec.
Domart (POL) 150-1 Prominent, ridden after 3 out, weakened 2 out, 8th of 14, 39l behind Cerium at Wincanton 2m nov hdl (D) gs in Feb.
Alasil (USA) 14-1 Led, ridden and quickened 3 out, hit 2 out, headed last, soon weakened, 5th of 12, 7l behind Krakow Baba at Fontwell 2m 2f hcp hdl 0-115 (D) gs in Feb.
Earn Out 4-1 Tracked leaders, led and mistake 8th, clear next, ridden after 2 out, stumbled and veered badly left after last, soon headed, no extra, 2nd of 7, 4l behind At The Double at Fontwell 2m 6f sll hcp hdl 0-95 (G) gs.
Transatlantic (USA) 5-1 Held up, headway approaching 3 out, ridden approaching next, weakening when mistake 2 out and pulled up at the last in race won by King of Barbury at Bangor 2m 1f cnd hcp hdl 0-100 (F) gs in Dec '03, 12 ran.
Hail The King (USA) 8-1 Held up last, ridden behind leaders approaching 2 out, kept on same pace, 4th of 13, 17l behind Island Stream at Wincanton 2m hcp hdl 0-120 (D) gd in Dec.
