steadied well in rear, under pressure 4 out, soon beaten
always behind, frequently jumped slowly, tailed off when fell 3 out
tracked leaders, led approaching when mistake 7th, headed before 2 out, weakened flat
chased leaders, mistake 7th, soon lost place, weakened 4 out, modest 4th
held up in rear, headway 8th, ridden 3 out, soon beaten
in touch, smooth headway 4 out, led on bit before 2 out, drew clear last, easily
with leader, under pressure 3 out, weakened next
led until approaching 7th, chased leaders, driven 11th, weakened 3 out, fell next
An interesting contest with few ruled out and Opera Og is likely to be very popular with punters as he arrives in search of a three-timer for the in-form Venetia Williams operation. He was undeniably impressive when winning on his latest outing at this venue but that was over 300 days ago and his subsequent absence has to be of concern. In the circumstances we'll row in with ROLL THE DICE, a solid and consistent performer for the Hobbs team who proved himself in good heart when a respectable third of eight behind Arctic Ben at Newbury last time. He runs off an unchanged mark here and should definitely be in the shake-up. King's Grace was third of eight here last time behind Musical Wedge and should benefit from the return to novice company.
Celtic Charlie (FR) 4-1 (10-9) Chased leaders, ridden and outpaced after 3 out, driven 2 out, went modest 3rd towards finish, 3rd of 7, 23l behind Bazart (10-7) at Plumpton 2m hcp hdl 0-95 (5) gd in Sep.
Elton Fox 17-2 (10-11) Tracked leader, mistake 2nd, hit 5th, weakened quickly 5 out, pulled up next, in a race won by Firebird Flyer (11-12) at Ffos Las 3m hcp hdl 0-120 (4) hvy in Dec, 7 ran.
King's Grace 3-1 (11-10) With winner, led 5th, headed 8th, led 9th until not fluent next, not fluent 11th, outpaced and no impression before 2 out, 3rd of 8, 20l behind Musical Wedge (11-2) at Towcester 2m 6f nov hcp chs 0-115 (4) gs in Feb.
King's Sunset (IRE) 17-2 (11-1) Made most to 7th, ridden and weakened before 3 out, 8th of 12, well behind Virginia Ash (11-3) at Chepstow 3m nov hcp hdl 0-120 (4) gs in Feb.
Moscow Mule 28-1 (10-4) Mid-division, headway 4th, hit 11th, struggling before 3 out, 10th of 12, well behind Trojan Sun (11-10) at Huntingdon 2m 4f hcp chs 0-105 (4) sft in Jan.
Opera Og (IRE) 8-11fav (10-13) Made all, clear before 2 out, easily, won at Towcester 2m nov hcp chs 0-100 (5) sft in May beating Middlebrook (10-10) by 10l, 6 ran.
Roll The Dice (IRE) 4-1 (11-2) Went left 1st, held up in 6th, steady headway to chase leading pair 8th, hit 10th, went 2nd 12th, pushed along before 4 out, no impression when joined for 2nd 2 out, dropped to 3rd run-in, 3rd of 8, 4l behind Arctic Ben (11-8) at Newbury 2m 4f hcp chs 0-120 (4) gs.
Samenerve (FR) 12-1 (11-0) Prominent, mistake 10th, soon lost place, behind when pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by Big News (10-9) at Ludlow 3m nov chs 0-110 (4) sft in Feb, 12 ran.
