IT is a pity that this afternoon’s McCoy Contractors Civil Engineering Classic Chase has cut up as much as it has, from 21 entries at the five-day stage to 13 declarations. It means that it is not now the good each-way race that it was shaping up to be.

You can understand it though. Four of the eight scratchings were at the foot of the handicap and, with top-weight Ballyoptic a declared runner, they all would have been very wrong at the weights. As things stand, five of the 13 remaining runners are out of the handicap, although Achille and Red Infantry are only 1lb wrong and Django Django is only 2lb wrong.