tracked leading pair, went 2nd 8th, led 10th to next, weakened 4 out, tailed off
reluctant to jump off, in rear, headway and in touch 9th, slightly hampered next, weakened from 11th, tailed off
behind, mistake 9th, kept on under pressure from 3 out, never going pace to reach leaders
in touch, went 2nd 4 out to after 3 out, one pace before next
blundered 1st, behind, no chance when blundered and unseated rider 12th
chased leader to 8th, weakened 13th, tailed off 4 out, pulled up before 2 out
behind, kept on under pressure from after 3 out, never dangerous
well in rear, still plenty to do 3 out, stayed on under pressure from next, driven to chase winner last, stayed on well run in to lead final 120 yards
close up, blundered and lost place 10th, stayed on under pressure to chase leader after 3 out, kept on one pace before last
The Nicky Henderson-trained First Love gets the vote here ahead of Royal Auclair and Byron Lamb. Going through the field. Royal Auclair, who is now trained by Paul Nicholls, last scored when taking the Cathcart Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 1997 for Martin Pipe. He is back to that winning mark of 147 here and, to be fair, ran a respectable race when fourth in this season's Tripleprint Gold Cup on his seasonal return. He could yet run well here, and first-time blinkers could help in that respect. Eskleybrook had an amazing season last year but has shown the same zip so far this time around. Ei Ei is a grand campaigner but looks vulnerable off his current mark. Just Jasmine is rated just a pound higher than for her most-recent success - which came in November 2002. She can go well fresh but might just need this seasonal rerun in this company. Tresor de Mai gained his last success over today's course and distance last February but had earlier won this equivalent race in 2002 from a mark of 136, a race in which he beat Just Jasmine. The latter is worse off at today's weights but Tresor de Mai would have to show more sparkle than he has so far this season to get back to winning ways, although that possibility cannot be entirely ruled out. The jury is out as to whether Byron Lamb has started the season on too high a mark but he will strip fitter for a sound reappearance run and, interestingly, Barry Geraghty has been booked to ride. Odagh Odyssey has not won since scoring here in December 2001 from a mark of 123. Given that he is now rated six pounds higher than that, we are inclined to prefer others. First Love is interesting in that he comes here after winning an Intermediate Chase at Perth in the spring. He could be anything, really, and with his trainer having such a good record in major handicaps this season, gets our vote in this tricky contest. Blowing Wind, twice-placed in the Grand National, has not won since the Cheltenham Festival of 2002 and, while he is well handicapped on the basis of that form, does not strike us as an obvious winner of this contest. It was no disgrace for Supreme Catch to fail to give Farmer Jack five pounds on his last visit to the racecourse and, despite the fact that he is a lightly-raced second-season chaser, could go well. Multeen River had a sigher here in December, but it was not a run that inspired confidence, while Trouble Ahead is too far out of the weights to warrant consideration as a likely winner here. Overall, then, the vote goes to First Love.
