If fit enough for his first start since March, The Rile should be good enough to give weight and a beating to his rivals with the consistent Carnacrack and the novice Strong Resolve looking the pick of them. Carnacrack has maintained a similar level of form since winning a handicap at Cartmel in July and is again entitled to be thereabouts but may once again have to settle for minor honours and a bigger threat may come from Strong Resolve, who is probably flattered by his proximity to useful novices' Our Armageddon and Lord Transcend in two starts here this season. However, the son of Roselier has been given a reasonable mark of 97 for his handicap debut and, in receipt of so much weight from the selection has to be respected. The Rile had a good season last term though with wins at Wetherby and here (twice) and with further improvement to come, especially over this longer trip, he looks worth a bet to give the in-form yard of Len Lungo another winner. Bustling Rio looks well treated for his return to chasing but was well beaten behind Mughas over hurdles at Aintree recently and is difficult to recommend. Cuthill Hope faced a stiff task on his reappearance after a lengthy lay off in the Beecher Chase at Aintree and this represents a drop in class but he needs to improve dramatically to trouble the judge, while Kung Hei Fat Choi appears to have his fair share of weight now and makes limited appeal in a race that is taken to go to The Rile.
