led, ridden and headed approaching last, soon held
pressed leader, jumped left and not always fluent, ridden approaching 2 out, led before last, clear flat, comfortably
held up, not fluent 1st, went 3rd 8th, not fluent 10th, lost touch next
held up, behind from 10th, tailed off
tracked leaders, jumped right 2nd, lost 3rd 8th, stumbled next, behind from 10th, tailed off
Downward Spiral overturned the odds-on Helpston at Uttoxeter last week but is likely to find PAINT THE CLOUDS a tougher nut to crack. Warren Greatrex' six-year-old comfortably transferred a progressive profile over hurdles into the chasing sphere nine days ago, winning by 11 lengths at Worcester. That looked a much stronger contest than this and, barring accidents; he should double his tally over the larger obstacles here. The Peter Pritchard pair look up against it but Arkose is a decent hurdler and is tried again over fences after jumping poorly in a couple of starts in the autumn.
Downward Spiral (IRE) 4-1 (10-12) Made all, ridden after 3 out, stayed on under pressure from next, won at Uttoxeter 2m 6f nov chs (4) gd beating Helpston (10-12) by 4l, 4 ran.
Paint The Clouds 4-6fav (11-0) Chased leader from 3rd, challenged after 8th, led 11th, clear 3 out, eased flat, won at Worcester 2m 7f beg chase (4) gd beating She's On The Case (10-7) by 11l, 5 ran.
Arkose (IRE) 8-1 (11-1) Led until narrowly headed 4th, chased leaders, ridden and outpaced before 2 out, stayed on again from last, not pace of leading duo, 3rd of 9, 2 1/2l behind Puzzlemaster (10-4) at Ascot 3m cnd hcp hdl 0-135 (3) gd in Apr.
Earcomesthedream (IRE) 7-2 (11-4) Bumped 1st, last after and not going well, several deliberate jumps, behind from 7th, tailed off, last of 5, well behind Like Ice (11-10) at Towcester 2m 6f nov hcp chs 0-115 (4) gf in Apr.
Roman Landing 200-1 (11-4) Led, hit 5th, headed next, weakened rapidly and in rear when blundered 7th, tailed off next, pulled up soon after, in a race won by Cantlow (11-4) at Ludlow 3m mdn hdl (5) gs in Feb, 8 ran.
