held up, pulled way through to join leaders 5th, led 3 out, ridden and jumped left and awkward 2 out, jumped left again last, kept on
in touch and raced wide, headway 5th, led 6th, ridden 7th, weakened 3 out
mid-division, ridden and weakened 7th
with leader and keen, led 2nd, headed 5th, mistake next, ridden and soon weakened, behind when pulled up 2 out
with leader, weakened after 4 out
in touch, weakened 6th, tailed off next
held up and keen, headway 7th, ridden to chase winner 3 out, weakened soon after
held up, ridden 4 out, headway 3 out, chased winner 2 out, no extra last
prominent, led 5th, headed next, ridden 7th, led briefly 8th, weakened quickly and pulled up before 2 out
held up rear, smooth headway 4 out to chase leading trio, hung left approaching last, ran on flat
Maybe Mel In Blue will provide the answer here, with his main dangers given as Hopbine and Guard Duty, but there are one or two others that also have to be considered. A winning pointer, Mel In Blue was a fairly decisive winner at Newbury last time, for which he has been raised six pounds. That seems fair rather than harsh and, in a race where many look relatively exposed, he might be able to win again. Hopbine put in a fair run at Doncaster last time from a four-pound higher mark and is well-weighted on form of a year ago, while the course and distance winner Guard Duty, much as he has been disappointing lately, would be a leading player on form of a year ago, and drops in trip now from his last four runs. Scratch The Dove and La Marette are closely weighted on the back of their recent Hereford runs, although the form is not strong, Penneeck is hard to fully assess, and The Hairy Lemon is lightly raced and looks to have better to come, although you would not say he is well-handicapped on what he has so far achieved. Finally, Onassis put in a better effort last time, but that was in a seller, and much as Gamma-Delta would hold a chance based on his Irish form of 2002, he has been very disappointing since. This returns us to the selection, which is Mel In Blue.
