prominent, left 2nd 8th, ridden and weakened 12th, pulled up before 13th
led, ridden hung badly left and headed 15th, no impression after
tracked leader and fell 8th
held up in mid-division, headway 10th, chased leader 11th, led 15th, soon clear, easily
always in rear, stayed on same pace to go poor 2nd flat
always towards rear, no impression
An interesting hunter chase but Cherry Gold comes out the best of these on official ratings and can score ahead of Badger Beer, Chasing The Bride and Caldamus. The Evan Williams-trained selection won two hunter chases in April and May of last year and, despite not having raced since September, should go close if fit enough to do himself justice. Fitness will not be an issue for Badger Beer, a recent point-to-point winner and a course over a shorter trip in May of last year or Chasing The Bride, who is a course and distance winner and ran well in a competitive event at Newbury five days ago. Caldamus won this race last year but that was on soft going while Alaska remains a maiden at 11 years of age. Blackberry Way actually won a hunter chase at Huntingdon two years ago but has shown little recently. Once again, then, we'll stick with Cherry Gold, but watch the betting market for clues.
