led, headed 4 out, 4th and outpaced on inside 2 out, rallied to go 3rd near finish, no impression with leading pair
held up 4th and last in touch, close up 12th, headway to lead narrowly approaching 3 out, ridden after next, headed narrowly last, kept on flat, just held
tracked leader to 4th, held up in 3rd, regained 2nd 13th, upsides when blundered and lost place 18th, switched outside to challenge 3 out, ridden between last 2, led narrowly last, held on under pressure flat
in touch, tracked leader from 4th, hit 8th, not fluent and lost place 13th, reminder 15th, regained 2nd 18th, led 4 out to before next, hit 2 out, soon ridden, kept on same pace, no impressin when lost 3rd near finish
Nonrunner
Veteran Gone To Lunch won over C&D in November but is still 8lb higher and recent efforts suggest Father Time is beginning to catch-up with Jeremy Scott's stayer. Earth Planet travels strongly in his races but finds very little at the business end while Only Witness dropped away tamely at Newbury last time and isn't certain to see out this trip. UPHAM ATOM won over 3m7f at Folkestone in February and was far from disgraced when fourth in the Devon National subsequently. He has a good record around here on fast ground and looks the one to beat today as Fort View looks to have lost his way.
Gone To Lunch (IRE) 20-1 (10-0) Mid-division, dropped towards rear 20th, soon struggling, pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by Balthazar King (10-9) at Cheltenham 3m 7f hcp chs (2) gd in Mar, 16 ran.
Earth Planet (IRE) 3-1 (10-12) Chased clear leader, closed after 4 out, demoted to 3rd and not asked for effort 3 out, went 2nd after 2 out, ridden before last, found nil, 2nd of 5, 12l behind Bruslini (11-5) at Hereford 3m 1f nov chs (4) gd in Mar.
Upham Atom 12-1 (11-8) Tracked leaders, mistake 13th, ridden next, blundered 16th, outpaced next, stayed on flat, 4th of 12, 10l behind Clash Duff (11-9) at Exeter 3m 6f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd in Mar.
Fort View (IRE) 11-1 (11-2) Held up towards rear, ridden and struggling approaching 12th, soon well behind, tailed off 4 out, soon pulled up, in a race won by Reblis (10-10) at Sandown 3m hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd in Feb, 11 ran.
Only Witness (IRE) 12-1 (11-10) Held up in touch, outpaced when hit 9th, behind 12th, tailed off after 13th, soon pulled up, in a race won by No Loose Change (11-4) at Newbury 3m nov hcp chs 0-130 (3) gd in Mar, 7 ran.
