Appleaday in rear but in touch, hit 13th, tracked leaders next, driven to take narrow lead 3 out, came clear after next, readily

Georges Boy led, hit 4th, narrowly headed 4 out but upsides 3 out, outpaced next, stayed on approaching last to retake well held 2nd near finish

Bengo in rear but in touch, hampered 5th, jumped slowly 7th, hit 11th, chased leaders and ridden 12th, upsides under pressure 3 out, chased winner after but no chance, weakened run-in and lost 2nd close home

Joyryder chased leaders, driven along 8th, ridden next, driven along lost position after 14th, moderate progress again after last

Wogan jumped badly in rear, jumped 8th (water) ok and 10th, last but travelling comfortably when blundered and finally unseated rider 4 out

Oh Braga chased leaders, hit 7th, blundered 13th, slight lead 4 out, narrowly headed and hampered next, pulled up soon after

Bolachoir tracked leaders, blundered 3rd, fell 5th

APPLEADAY, a former bumper winner, has not always jumped well since being sent chasing, but has progressed in that respect this winter and took most of the fences smoothly here, in a race not run at a great pace.

The winner was held up in midfieldduring the early stages, given time to warm to his task by Dominic Elsworth, who has been instrumental in his steady improvement, but he took markedly closer order on the second circuit and began to make a decisive move approaching the third-last. He jumped that obstacle well, repeated the trick at the penultimate fence and then quickened away from the last to establish a clear advantage. There was one slightly anxious moment, when he hung left and needed to be straightened to negotiate the elbow, but, once that was accomplished, he ran on strongly to score with a bit in hand.

Georges Boy, who had made all to collect at Plumpton two starts previously, set the pace from the outset and, even after being overhauled by the winner three from home, he stuck to his guns gamely. He had no answer to the winner's finishing surge, but, although he looked as if he might be swamped approaching two out he rallied well to hold off the remainder and might now be worth trying back over a longer trip.

Joyrider, in second for much of the way, weakened in the straight after briefly threatening to take a hand in the finish and it may be that he is on too high a mark after taking a three-runner contest at Warwick.

If there was a serious hard-luck story, it probably concerned Oh Braga, who was impeded and cannoned into when still in contention at the third-last and hastily pulled up after he knuckled following the bump, while Wogan simply made too many jumping errors to play a leading role. His mistakes started at the first and continued right through the race until he finally clouted the fourth-last so hard that it ended his involvement.

Bolachoir, having his first run in a handicap chase after victories in a hunter event and an amateur riders' contest at Sandown, did not get far enough to demonstrate whether his rating of 123 is reasonable or otherwise, making a mistake at the third and then falling at the first ditch. (DL)

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