held up in touch, ridden 8th, weakened 4 out
not fluent 1st, held up in rear, ridden and some after 4 out, no extra from 2 out
soon led, joined 8th, left clear next, ridden after 2 out, held on under pressure flat
pulled hard, blundered 4th, ridden approaching 3 out, one pace from next
joined winner 8th, every chance when blundered badly next, recovered and ridden 4 out, stayed on from 2 out, ran on well flat, unlucky
Castle Prince has showed his well being of late putting up a decent performance in a hot race at Exeter two weeks ago. Prior to that he was well beaten at Kempton on ground that really should have suited and with rain expected he is overlooked here. Soeur Fontenail is the cheeky TEAMtalk selection to upset some of the more fancied runners. Progressive over both hurdles and the larger obstacles last season the five-year-old has put in two good runs this season at Plumpton (both run in good times) and the form stands up well. He has run well at this track in the past and should put in a good account of himself here. Iorana has some useful hurdle and chase form to his name and is capable of putting a poor run at Chepstow behind him where the course may not have suited. He should run well but looks badly handicapped at present. Ivanoph either runs well or fails to complete. His recent effort at Folkestone was a solid run and looks to have the credentials to give the selection most to do. Jarro has been brought on steadily by his trainer and will be suited by this surface however he needs to show improvement on his latest effort to figure here. Kassala is capable on his day but seems the type who would prefer a faster surface.
