last pair, mistake slightly hampered and left poor 4th 8th, soon struggling, tailed off
led, ridden and headed 4 out, dropped to 3rd before next, rallied to regain 2nd before 2 out, no chance with winner
took keen hold, held up tracking leaders on inside, not fluent 1st, slow 5th (water), left close 3rd 9th, ridden and chasing winner when hit 3 out, lost 2nd before and weakened next
chased leading pair, left in close 2nd 9th, led 4 out, clear next, easily
chased leader, went left 7th, travelling ok when blundered and unseated rider 9th
After wins at Plumpton and Southwell Blue Hills was raised 9lb and may not find it easy to complete the hat-trick, despite the drop in grade. We'll take on the 11-year-old with the much younger OPERA OG, who is a winning pointer and travelled strongly for a long way before his stamina gave out at Towcester last time. Today's sharper track and shorter trip should be to his advantage. Cherokee Star hasn't had much time to recover from Tuesday's third at Fakenham and Catch The Rascal's jumping needs to improve, though he's now tried in blinkers.
Cherokee Star 11-1 (11-0) In rear, headway 9th, ridden to chase winner 2 out until approaching last, kept on same pace, 3rd of 11, 13l behind Phoenix Des Mottes (10-4) at Fakenham 2m 5f hcp chs 0-95 (5) sft.
Blue Hills 5-2 (9-11) Tracked leader, led approaching 3 out, drew clear approaching last, ran on well, won at Southwell 2m 5yo nov hcp (4) sft in Apr beating Ballybanks (9-13) by 7l, 6 ran.
Catch The Rascal (IRE) 15-2 (10-10) Led, not fluent 4th, headed 7th, chased leaders, fell 11th, in a race won by Ballyvoneen (10-6) at Plumpton 3m 2f nov hcp chs 0-95 (5) gd in Apr, 7 ran.
Opera Og (IRE) 8-1 (10-13) Tracked leaders, ridden after 3 out, 3rd and beaten when hit 2 out, weakened last, 4th of 9, 27l behind Cecily Parsley (10-2) at Towcester 2m 3f hcp chs 0-95 (5) gd in Mar.
Silsula 16-1 (10-1) Prominent, went 2nd and every chance 3 out, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out, 6th of 13, 24l behind Who Owns Me (11-5) at Fontwell 2m 4f nov hcp hdl 0-95 (5) gs in Apr.