led, ridden and headed before last, weakened flat)
raced keenly, held up, hampered 2nd, not fluent for out, headway 3 out, soon beaten
always prominent, ridden to lead approaching last, drew clear from last
raced keenly, held up, jumped right and bumped 2nd, behind from 4 out
prominent, hit 5th, pushed along after 8th, weakened approaching 3 out
held up, went 3rd 4 out, weakened after 3 out
A competitive enough handicap chase here where My Condor can get the better of Ton-Chee, Albarino and Blandings Castle. The selection has to give weight away all round but has trip and ground in his favour and his tendency to jump left should not be as much of a negative here as it was at Perth last time. He is exposed, but then so are most of them, and he has enough going for him to win. Ton-Chee took a Newcastle handicap chase in March but is up 9lb as a result and that will make this much tougher. Consistency is not his strong suit so we will just oppose, while Albarino keeps finding one too good and off this mark that will surely happen again. Blandings Castle is fully 17lb higher than when taking the first of two Newton Abbot handicap chases in the summer and the weight found him out back there last time, so he looks in the grip og the handicapper, and Jam Roll looks interesting for Jonjo O'Neill but has plenty of weight to shoulder and is best watched. A tricky one here then and My Condor just gets the vote.
My Condor (IRE) 2-1fav (11-5) Led and jumped left 7th and 8th, ridden 3 out, headed and weakened flat, 4th of 13, 8l behind The Wicketkeeper (11-4) at Perth 2m nov hcp chs 0-115 (4) gd in Sept.
Jam Roll (IRE) 7-2 (11-4) fell in race won by Enfield Chase (11-12) at Tramore 2m mdn hdl frm in Jun, 11 ran.
Seeyaaj 11-2 (10-9) Tracked leader, ridden 3 out, soon one pace, 2nd of 6, 5l behind Lofty Leader (10-5) at Perth 2m 4f hcp chs 0-115 (3) gs in Aug.
Albarino (IRE) 7-2 (11-2) Held up, headway and 3 lengths down in 4th when fell 4 out in race won by Vintage Gold (11-12) at Bangor 2m 1f hcp chs 0-115 (4) gf in Aug, 9 ran.
Blandings Castle 11-8fav (10-4) Mid-division, headway approaching 3 out, slightly hampered and stumbled, ridden to chase leaders 2 out, not quicken, 4th of 9, 8l behind Avesomeofthat (11-4) at N Abbot 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) gf in Sept.
Yvanovitch (FR) 7-1 (10-11) Always behind, struggling after 3 out, tailed off when pulled up at the last in race won by Colliers Court (11-7) at Uttoxeter 2m hcp chs 0-110 (4) hvy in Jul, 5 ran.
Ton-Chee 14-1 (11-5) Held up behind, ridden and headway 4 out, led last, stayed on flat, won at Newcastle 2m hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Mar beating Sparkling Taff (11-8) by 2 1/2l, 10 ran.
Red Sun 11-2 (11-3) Held up in touch, headway approaching 2 out, every chance last, kept on same pace, 2nd of 16, 1l behind Airedale Lad (10-10) at Hexham 2m sll hdl (5) gf.
Troodos Jet 50-1 (9-7) Behind, headway 3 out, ridden and weakened next, 9th of 13, 21l behind dhtrs Go Figure (10-3) & Gold Gun (10-8) at Perth 2m hcp hdl 0-115 (4) gs in Jul.
