led 1st, made rest, driven 2 out, ran on strongly
tracked leader, effort 2 out, kept on under pressure
led early, tracked leaders, lost place approaching 2 out
keen towards rear, headway 4 out, weakened next
in touch, headway 3 out, soon chasing leaders, effort 2 out, kept on under pressure
chased leaders, lost place 3rd, soon towards rear, rallied before 4 out, soon beaten, tailed off
in touch, effort after 3 out, soon outpaced, stayed on after last, never a threat
keen in rear, weakened after 3 out
mid-division, weakened 3 out, in rear when fell next
Unison completed a double early last year but still looks a shade high in the weights after a second at Kempton and a conditional’s allowance helps his cause today. Blue Rambler returned to hurdling with a narrow-margin defeat at Doncaster but has been raised 6lb for that and it could pay to stick with BELTOR. The latter scored over 2m here last month and it’s reasonable to expect further progress as that was his first start for over 18 months and he’s only 4lb higher today. Master Burbidge will find this tougher than his recent second at Leicester while Air Horse One and Kings Lad are not badly treated but continue to struggle.
Unison (IRE) 16-1 (12-1) Made most until 4 out, chased leader until next, remained handy, went 2nd again run-in, no chance with winner, 2nd of 12, 3l behind Eddiemaurice (10-6) at Kempton 2m hcp (3) gs in Dec.
Air Horse One 16-1 (11-12) Raced wide in mid-division, closer on outside tracking leaders 5th, weakened before 3 out, 11th of 15, dist behind Champ (11-6) at Newbury 2m 5f hcp (2) sft in Dec.
Blue Rambler 11-1 (11-1) Held up in mid-division, headway 3 out, 2nd 2 out, led flat, headed close home, just held, 2nd of 8, hd behind Commodore Barry (11-8) at Doncaster 3m hcp (3) gd in Dec.
Beltor 5-1 (11-3) Raced keenly, held up in close touch, headway in 3rd after 3 out, 2nd next, upsides last, stayed on to lead final 100 yards, won at Taunton 2m hcp (3) gs in Dec beating Gwalia (10-10) by 3/4l, 6 ran.
Raven's Tower (USA) 16-1 (11-12) Mid-division, headway 4 out, soon chasing leaders, weakened before last, 8th of 12, 16 3/4l behind William H Bonney (11-11) at Huntingdon 2m hcp (3) gs in Dec.
Kings Lad (IRE) 16-1 (11-4) Chased leaders, weakened before 14th, tailed off and pulled up before 17th, at Sandown 3m hcp (2) gs in Jan.
Big Chief Benny (IRE) 25-1 (11-2) Towards rear, headway 3 out, soon ridden, weakened approaching last, 7th of 14, 24 3/4l behind Erick Le Rouge (11-3) at Kempton 2m 5f hcp (3) gs in Dec.
Master Burbidge (11-10) 2nd of 4, shd behind Ormskirk (11-6) at Les Landes 2m 4f hcp gd in Aug.
Mick Thonic (FR) 13-2 (10-11) Took keen hold, pressed leader, not fluent 2nd, led before next, headed after 6th, lost place 3 out, soon weakened, 6th of 7, dist behind Thahab Ifraj (10-3) at Wincanton 2m 4f hcp (3) gf in Nov.
