The two-mile hurdlers are a weak bunch bar Honeysuckle at present, and this ended up taking little winning with one of the main form choices running poorly. The pace was sound, however, with the finishing speed from two out slower than par at 98.6%.

EPATANTE (h145 here, 154 previously) was left with a penalty kick with Not So Sleepy running poorly and was less than impressive in landing the odds from a couple of decent handicappers who conceded her weight, tracking the leader and looking like she might win well when going on for sure before 2 out, but soon shaken up then coming under stronger pressure for a while on the flat as second/third nibbled at her advantage. She looks to have place chances at best again at Cheltenham at this stage.

GLORY AND FORTUNE (h149 here, 140 previously) appeared to surpass his previous form, held up and staying on despite a mistake at the second-last, credited with it for now given that this was truly run (though the overall time was nothing special). Two miles looks to be his trip.

SOARING GLORY (h149 here and previously) rewarded connections’ enterprise with a solid third place, though may pay the price in handicaps as a result. He tracked the pace, going a bit freely as usual, could not go with the winner approaching 2 out and was collared for second late on.

TRITONIC(h136 here, 147 previously) had more to do here but was not at his best after just 8 days off, none too fluent and in trouble some way out, one paced late on.

NOT SO SLEEPY (h136 here, 160 previously) needs treating with some caution, his quirks more apparent than usual here, reluctant to line up/set off but soon in the lead and setting a good pace, only to cave in when the chips were down. He had shown at Newcastle that he is capable of battling in a finish and putting up a high-class effort when in the mood.