led, ridden approaching 4 out, headed before 3 out, weakened approaching last
with leader until 9th, soon ridden, weakened approaching 11th, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
held up and behind, not fluent 2nd, detached 8th, closed on leaders before 11th, hung left after 4 out, no further progress
held up in 3rd, not fluent 5th, headway 8th, went 2nd 10th, led approaching 3 out, clear last, easily
held up, headway approaching 10th, going well before 4 out, chased winner 2 out, no impression
Nonrunner
Dead Mans Dante has been performing creditably on unsuitably testing ground of late but has still dropped to a winning mark and, back on a more suitable surface, he gets the vote ahead of Bill's Echo and Transit. The last mentioned is capable but has proven to be hard to win with and may now be a shade high in the weights having been raised for his win under testing ground at Sedgefield in December. Catch The Perk has claims on the pick of his form but may now be in the grip of the handicapper, while The Nomad is proving to be hard to win with. Tyssac has given little cause for optimism since joining current connections and of more interest may be Bill's Echo, who has ground conditions to suit. Dead Mans Dante gets lots of weight all round though and he is preferred.
Catch The Perk (IRE) 20-1 (11-0) Led to 4th, prominent until weakened after 20th, 7th of 12, well behind Naunton Brook (10-5) at Hexham 4m hcp chs 0-135 (3) gs in Nov.
Tyssac (FR) 100-1 (10-6) Always behind, tailed off when pulled up 3 out in race won by Cloudy Lane (10-11) at Cheltenham 3m amt hcp chs 0-140 (2) gs, 24 ran.
Transit 33-1 (10-6) In rear, headway approaching 3 out, stayed on from 2 out, 3rd of 9, 7l behind Madison Du Berlais (11-7) at Southwell 2m hcp chs 0-140 (2) sft in Jan.
Bill's Echo 7-1 (11-11) Behind, stayed on well from last, not reach leaders, 5th of 11, 10l behind Allumee (11-6) at Newbury 2m 1f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd.
Dead Mans Dante (IRE) 9-2 (11-8) Held up, headway 11th, stumbled on bend after 3 out, weakened after last, 3rd of 6, 12l behind Dumadic (11-9) at Sedgefield 2m 4f hcp chs 0-110 (4) gd.
The Nomad 10-1 (11-6) Chased leader until approaching 5th, ridden and weakened after 9th, behind when, 11th of 14, well behind Marshall Hall (10-0) at Catterick 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) hvy in Feb.