held up towards rear, fell 5 out
held up in mid-division, headway 4 out, ridden and effort next, stayed on to have every chance run in, held towards finish
tracked leaders, led 4th, blundered 5 out, soon headed, weakened approaching 3 out
held up in touch, headway halfway, led after 5 out, ridden 3 out, all towards finish
blundered 1st, soon in touch, headway 9th, mistake 5 out, ridden and outpaced before next, kept on under pressure run in
soon behind, tailed off halfway, pulled up before 4 out
led to 4th, remained prominent, pushed along 10th, headway to chase winner 4 out, soon ridden, stayed on to have every chance run in, no extra towards finish
tracked leader, weakened quickly approaching 5 out, tailed off when pulled up before next
Cruise Leader won well in what looked a decent novices' handicap over course and distance last month and is taken to follow up at the main expense of Aelred and Curly Spencer. The selection had some useful form in novice hurdles three years ago and has had his problems since but looked more like his own self when winning here at the Christmas meeting and a 9lb rise for that success may not stop Chris Grant's gelding from following up. Aelred, a winner at Newcastle last month, now has to race off a career high mark of 114 and may struggle under the burden of 11st 6lb. A bigger danger then may be Curly Spencer who has slipped to an attractive mark and is entitled to improve for his recent outing at Carlisle; his first since May. Top weight Fred's In The Know remains unexposed over fences and has to be respected after two starts over hurdles this season. Micky Hammond's Deep Water has yet to prove that he stays as far as this and comes from a stable badly out of form anyway, as does the 11-year-old The Major and of more interest may be Mary Reveley's reappearing Time of Flight but we are happy to side with Cruise Leader.
