held up in rear, wel behind after 6th, tailed off
mid-division, not always fluent, towards rear 3rd, well behind after 6th, tailed off
led, not fluent 2nd, headed after 5th, weakened 2 out
tracked leaders, took keen hold, led after 5th, clear last, stayed on
prominent, mistake 2nd, ridden 3 out, mistake 2 out, weakened flat
held up towards rear, closed 5th, ridden and went 2nd briefly last, stayed on same pace
held up in rear, jumped left 1st, headway when a bit slow 3 out, shaken up to close last, soon went 2nd, stayed on, unable to get to winner
mid-division, took keen hold, headway 4th, not fluent 6th, went 2nd 3 out until last, weakened flat
tracked leaders, went 2nd 6th until 3 out, one pace flat
REGAL ENCORE started joint favourite for the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in March and only found Briars Hill too strong. That is top-class form and it's difficult to see Anthony Honeyball's five-year-old falling short here on his hurdling debut with the champ in the saddle. Salto Chisco won a bumper at Haydock in March and can chase home the selection ahead of last year's Exeter winner Garde La Victoire and Paul Nicholls' newcomer Silsol, who won on the Flat in France. Getabuzz was a decent stayer on the level and has the size to do well under NH Rules but is probably best watched today.
Blackmore 100-1 (10-5) Tracked leaders, outpaced approaching 3 out, stayed on flat, no impression, 4th of 9, 19l behind Uncle Jimmy (10-12) at Fontwell 2m 4f nh nov hdl (4) sft in Oct '12.
Brasingaman Espee 66-1 (8-10) Led 3f, tracked leader until pushed along 4f out, ridden over 3f out, soon weakened, tailed off and eased, last of 10, well behind Sporting Gold (9-8) at Haydock 1m 4f hcp 0-70 (5) gd in Sep (flat).
Call Of Duty (IRE) 6-1 (11-0) Mid-division, headway 4 out, soon chasing leaders, weakened after 2 out, 6th of 11, 29l behind Revocation (11-0) at Hexham 2m mdn hdl (5) gs.
Garde La Victoire (FR) 7-2 (10-12) Tracked leaders, headway 3f out, soon challenged, driven to lead over 1f out, ridden clear when wandered inside final furlong, kept on, won at Exeter 1m 5f n h flat 3yo (6) gs in Oct '12 beating Moll Flanders (10-5) by 4l, 7 ran.
Getabuzz 11-4 (9-11) Chased leading pair, ridden 3f out, weakened over 1f out, 4th of 6, 12l behind King Of Paradise (9-5) at Hamilton 1m 5f hcp 0-80 (4) gs in Sep (flat).
Pulpitarian (USA) 50-1 (10-5) Tracked leaders in 3rd, ridden and weakened over 1f out, 11th of 17, 12l behind Nanton (10-1) at York 1m 4f ladys hcp 0-95 (3) gf in Jun (flat).
Regal Encore (IRE) 7-1fav (11-5) Held up behind, headway halfway, challenged over 2f out, ridden to challenge and every chance over 1f, kept on, not pace of winner inside final furlong, 2nd of 23, 7l behind Briar Hill (11-5) at Cheltenham 2m N H flat G1 (1) gs in Mar.
Salto Chisco (IRE) 11-10fav (11-4) Prominent, led after 2f, ridden and in command inside final furlong, ran on, won at Haydock 2m NH flat (5) gs in Mar beating Jean De Florette (11-4) by 3l, 10 ran.
Silsol (GER) (8-11) won at Le Croise-laroche(FR) 1m 2f hcp gs in Nov beating Absent Minded (9-4) by 6l, 14 ran (flat).
Madame Blavatsky (FR) 14-1 (10-5) Led, ridden and headed 3f out, soon lost 2nd, gradually weakened, tailed off, 4th of 8, well behind Our Joey (10-5) at Perth 2m NH flat (6) sft in Jun '12.
