Roman Ark chased leader until led 8th, clear 3 out, stayed on well

Haggle Twins prominent, mistake and lost place 7th, ridden 10th, rallied to chase winner and mistake 3 out, stayed on same pace

Salhood chased leaders, ridden approaching 3 out, stayed on same pace

Be My Better Half led, mistake 3rd, headed 8th, ridden 10th, weakened approaching 3 out

Master Papa held up, headway 7th, ridden and weakened after 4 out

Stan held up, mistake 9th, soon ridden and weakened, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out

Several with apparent chances at the weights in a handicap potentially more competitive than the size of the field might suggest, but the ground, seemingly more testing than on the hurdles course, may have caught out one or two.

But ROMAN ARK has always revelled in the mud, whether racing over hurdles or fences, and gained an authoritative success under top weight, leading from the eighth fence and looking the winner from some way out.

He had more use made of him than is sometimes the case and took full advantage of his good jumping, an asset that should ensure that this relatively lightly raced chaser wins more races over fences.

Salhood ran creditably but would probably have been suited by better ground.

First-time blinkers did not do the trick for Be My Better Half, who remains below his best, while Master Papa was well below the form he had shown in winning here three weeks earlier, dropping out from 4 out.

Stan may have found the ground too soft and was in trouble a long way out.

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