handy on inside, jumped left throughout, ridden and outpaced approaching 2 out, kept on from last, never on terms
led, not fluent 4th, going well when fell 2 out
chased leader out wide, struggling and dropped to rear from 7th, pulled up before 4 out
held up, hard ridden home turn, left in lead from 2 out, clear last, ridden out flat
Homme Public has already won at Wetherby and Cheltenham and is well on his way to proving he’ll be a better chaser than hurdler. Lallygag and PERSIAN TIME both made their chasing debuts in the race won by the more-experienced Djelo at Newbury. Nicky Henderson’s five-year-old fared best and showed plenty of promise so should confirm the form only 2lb worse off. Authorised Speed is not out of this if treating fences with more respect than he sometimes did the smaller obstacles.
Homme Public (FR) 13-2 (11-4) Tracked leader, not fluent 2 out, 5 lengths down and no impression when left clear at the last, ridden and briefly pressed run-in, asserted final 110 yards, won at Cheltenham 2m (1) gs in Nov beating Petit Tonnerre (11-4) by 2l, 4 ran.
Authorised Speed (FR) 12-1 (11-7) Held up in touch, mistake 5th, challenged 4 out, disputing lead 3 out until 2 out, no extra when awkward last, 8th of 14, 21l behind Irish Point (11-7) at Aintree 2m 4f (1) gs in Apr.
Lallygag (GER) 9-2 (11-8) Close up, pushed along and weakened 2 out, last of 6, 18 1/4l behind Djelo (11-10) at Newbury 2m hcp (3) gs in Dec.
Persian Time 10-3 (11-4) In touch in rear, headway 3 out, ridden to chase winner approaching last, stayed on one pace, 2nd of 6, 5 1/2l behind Djelo (11-10) at Newbury 2m hcp (3) gs in Dec.
