Maiden hurdler who fell twice in his first four chase starts and, though he was a runner-up on heavy ground at Leicester next time, he flopped badly over 2m4f there latest. Hard to place maximum faith in.
Failed to complete in three of his five starts over fences but shaped with promise at Chepstow (2m, soft) last time out when just failing to reel in What's Up Rory. Raised 4lb for that but longer trip should help.
A 13 race maiden but seems to have relished the switch to fences, running some of his better races in this sphere, including last time out when just over 3L behind What's Up Rory (3L behind Time and Again). Respected.
Point-to-point winner in 2013 but it's now 13 races without a win under rules, having finished a 13L third behind Bajardo (2m, good) at Taunton last time out. Mark is coming down slowly and a slightly longer trip shouldn't disadvantage him.
Old stager who came good when winning on this track last summer (6lb lower mark) for the last of his five wins. Goes best on a decent surface but hasn't been sighted since October and may need a run.
Never delivered over hurdles but scored at Plumpton over this sort of trip on his chasing bow (good to soft) last month and not disgraced in two subsequent starts off a revised mark. Dropped 2lb here and hard to discount.
Non-Runners
7
Blackwood Rover18
Weight: 10-4| Age: 9
T: J R Jenkins J: L P Aspell
NR
Forecasts
Goonjim (9/4), Elkstone (7/2), Time And Again (4/1), Shintori (9/2), Deise Vu (6/1), Blackwood Rover (15/2), Accessallareas (14/1)
Hard to completely discount any of the seven protagonists on various form-lines, including Time And Again and Shintori who are closely matched on their efforts behind What's Up Rory at Chepstow last month. Preference though is for GOONJIM who is only rated 3lb higher than when winning a similar contest at Plumpton last month and who is young enough to find further improvement.