held up, headway 4 out, ridden approaching 2 out, kept on flat, no chance with winner
prominent, led 5th, jumped right from next, ridden clear 3 out, driven out
tracked leaders, went 2nd 4 out, ridden approaching 2 out, one pace flat
held up, headway approaching 7th, ridden 4 out, weakened next
not jump well, held up in rear, pushed along approaching 8th, headway approaching last, stayed on flat, never nearer
Auditty might prove the answer here, but there are a number of others to consider. Going through the runners. Henryianjames came good at Wetherby two runs ago but is now seven pounds higher in the ratings, although his very good rider takes three of those of his back. Eleven-time winner Minster Glory has the services of Tony McCoy. The Mick Easterby-trained gelding is very well handicapped on the best of his form but has not won for two years. Auditty has been in good form lately, winning once and being placed twice in his last three runs. His win came at Worcester from a mark of 94, and he is rated 9lbs higher here. He is weighted to beat Sharpastrizam based on their meetings at Perth on September 25, although the latter may have needed that outing. Sharpastrizam, a course and distance winner, won from a mark of 104 at Perth last spring so, from a rating of 97 here, cannot be ruled out. Jonjo O'Neill's Masters Of War, a Leopardstown win on heavy over ten furlongs to his name, has yet to race in this country. He is hard to fancy on what we know but, running in those famous J P McManus colours, a market move cannot be ignored. Vidi Caesar made little show on his chasing debut 126 days ago but had shown promise in hurdle races before that. Big Perks has been in the money in 11 of his 14 starts, including chases, and Richard Johnson is an eyecatching booking. That said, he has a 728-day break to overcome, although he is reasonably handicapped if back to near his best. In a tricky race, then, we'll side with Auditty.
