Arctic Shadow held up in rear, headway 9th, ridden to lead 3 out, soon clear, stayed on well
History Master prominent, outpaced 8th, stayed on to take 2nd approaching last, not trouble winner
Junctiontwentyfour led to 6th, prominent, chased winner from 3 out until weakened approaching last
Millitant Man held up in mid-division, headway approaching 7th, weakened after 3 out
No More Tom prominent, not much room on inside briefly bend after 8th, weakening when slightly hampered 3 out
Sensible Jockser behind, ridden when mistake 7th, soon struggling
Huckleberry held up towards rear, headway 7th, weakened after 9th
Ravenscar prominent until weakened approaching 9th
Optimistic Alfie in rear, pushed along after 6th, tailed off from 7th
Geneva Bay prominent until weakened approaching 7th, tailed off 9th
Talkingstick pulled hard, headway 3rd, led 6th, jumped right 9th, headed and weakening when fell 3 out
Analyis of the race
An all-hurdles card for the course's first meeting since last summer's floods. Times at this meeting should be ignored completely as the circumference of the course was at its widest with the home straight virtually along the riverbank.
The riders in this conditional jockeys' novice handicap hurdle reckoned the ground was on the soft side of good with a few slower patches notably on the bends and approaching the second last in the home straight. Whichever way you look at it horses who needed good ground or faster might have well have stayed at home.
ARCTIC SHADOW, an assured stayer on this sort of ground, simply put his stamina to good use as he ploughed his way home to follow up his recent Fontwell success. Given that conditions on the testingside are paramount for him the chances of him getting soft again are slim if the sun continues to shine.
Militant Man did not appear to get home while No More Tom did not get the best of passages on the home turn but he looked held at the time.
Tote
Tote Win: 6.2
Tote place (1): 1.7
Tote place (2): 8.7
Tote place (3): 2.9
Exacta: 80.7
CSF: 52.9
Tricast: 366.9
Total SP: 117
Further Information
Racing results courtesy of racing post. Please note that ever effort is made to ensure results are correct but I accept no liability for mistakes. The data is provided as a free service.
Please visit my Blog or sign up to my racing forum for the latest news and views.
