held up, headway 4 out, led approaching next, ridden approacing 2 out, ran on flat
held up, headway to in touch 3 out, soon ridden and one pace, no chance with front two
tracked leaders, weakened and pulled up 4 out, lame
led, headed approaching 3 out, soon ridden and beaten
mid-dvision, smooth headway to chase winner 3 out, soon ridden and kept on, no extra flat
mid-division ridden and weakened from 3 out
tracked leader, ridden 3 out, weakened from next
reluctant to race, always behind
A very decent early-season novice event with Lingo just getting the nod ahead of fellow flat converts Vintage Premium and Chivalry. JP McManus is not in the habit of sloshing his money away for no apparent reason and the bookies took note when he purchased the ex-Lynda Ramsden horse. Currently priced as low as 25/1 for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham; he will need to win this in order to maintain any of those lofty ambitions. Vintage Premium was certainly no mug on the flat. He stayed 1m2f at a pretty top level on the flat but there is a suspicion that he may be seen to better effect when the ground is a little more testing underfoot. Chivalry was yet another high profile acquisition by Howard Johnson. The gelding took the 2003 Cambridgeshire for Sir Mark Prescott and appeared (on the flat at least) to handle any surface. Dalblair's flat form suggests that he'll experience few problems with the trip but he may lack the basic speed necessary to land the race. Behan was plating class on the flat but is interesting at bigger odds given the Keith Nicholson connection. With those to have jumped hurdles in public looking to be moderate, we will take our chance with Lingo to make a winning debut.
