led, mistake 5th, headed 9th, outpaced after 5 out, kept on one pace from 2 out
in touch, mistake 4th and dropped rear, outpaced 10th, blundered next, tailed off when pulled up before 4 out
tracked leader, mistake 6th, led 9th, ridden and headed 2 out, one pace under pressure
held up towards rear, fell 12th
tracked leaders, went 2nd 11th, led 2 out, ran on strongly
held up in touch, headway to chase leaders approaching 4 out, soon ridden, not pace of 1st two
towards rear, outpaced 10th
Native Upmanship has won this for the last two years and is sure to put in a bold show again but this looks tougher than in previous years and preference is for Isio, who is preferred to Moscow Flyer. The selection comes here fresher than most having bypassed Cheltenham and that may give Nicky Henderson's gelding an advantage over some of his rivals. The narrow winner of Ascot's Victor Chandler Chase in January, the eight-year-old was an impressive winner of Newbury's Vodafone Gold Cup last month. While this represents a step up in class for the son of Silver Rainbow, he is progressing well and should be suited by both course and distance. Jessica Harrington's Moscow Flyer unseated Barry Geraghty four out in the Queen Mother last time and tackles 2m4f for the first time today. He has to be respected but cannot be guaranteed to stay and is probably best passed over. Arthur Moore's Native Upmanship obviously has to be respected in his attempt for a hat trick but he does not come into this year's renewal in the same form as before and age may be catching up with the 11-year-old now. The Philip Hobbs-trained Flagship Uberalles was a well-beaten second behind the brilliant Azertyuiop at Cheltenham and a place seems to be the best that connections can possibly hope for again, while Cenkos is another whose best days may now be past him. Stablemate Le Roi Miguel does not look good enough, while Strong Magic is surely only running in the hope of picking up sixth place prize money. Isio probably needs to improve again to win this but we think that he may be up to the task and give him our vote.
