held up in 5th, steady headway on inside 3 out, pushed along before weakened next, finished tired
chased leader until 8th, chased leaders, weakened 4 out, mistake next, tailed off
jumped well, tracked leaders, led after 8th, clear before 2 out, stayed on strongly
chased leaders in 3rd, not fluent 7th, stayed on same pace and no impression before 2 out
raced on inside, led until after 8th, chased winner, pushed along before 10th, ridden and well held before 2 out
An administrative error cost Aintree winner Riders Onthe Storm a run in last week’s Caspian Caviar Gold Cup, for which he’d been ante-post favourite. He seeks compensation in this and should go well. Double Shuffle is the highest rated but is on a long losing run and seems to reserve his best for Kempton. ON THE BLIND SIDE was never travelling in the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury and soon pulled up. But he’d run well over 3m here on his reappearance, when Adrien Du Pont was pulled up, and is suited by small fields. Paloma Blue has never raced over a trip this far and there are some proven stayers in this.
Adrien Du Pont (FR) 12-1 (10-12) Held up and behind, hampered 7th, progress 15th, weakened after 3 out, pulled up before last, at Ascot 3m hcp (1) gs in Nov.
Double Shuffle (IRE) 33-1 (11-5) Held up mid-division, lost place 15th, no danger after, 8th of 16, 24 1/2l behind Vinndication (11-0) at Ascot 3m hcp (1) gs in Nov.
Riders Onthe Storm (IRE) 4-1cfav (11-5) Held up towards rear, took keen hold, headway from 9th, led 12th, hit 3 out, stayed on, won at Aintree 2m 4f hcp (2) sft in Nov beating Cepage (11-12) by 1 3/4l, 10 ran.
Paloma Blue (IRE) 6-1 (11-1) Tracked leader in 2nd, improved to dispute lead entering straight, ridden and led before 2 out, strongly pressed and headed at last, kept on under pressure inside final furlong, 2nd of 5, 1 1/2l behind Getabird (11-1) at Gowran Park 2m 4f hvy in Nov.
On The Blind Side (IRE) 8-1 (11-1) Mid-division on inside, weakened 12th, behind and pulled up before 5 out, at Newbury 3m 2f hcp (1) gs in Nov.
