held up in rear, headway to join leader 4 out, led approaching 2 out, clear approaching last, eased towards finish
led, jumped left 2nd and 4th, headed 11th, weakened and not fluent 3 out
with leader, led 11th, ridden and headed approaching 2 out, beaten when mistake last
chased leaders, mistake 6th, pushed along after 8th, lost place 10th, pulled up before 11th
BLAZING DIVA is taken to land this novices' chase on her debut in this sphere, while there are points of merit about all the other trio. The selection can take advantage of her allowances here and should strip fit enough after a couple of recent hurdling runs. She gives the impression that this is her game, she will have been well prepared by a trainer going well, and trip and ground are fine so we'll side with her. The Big Canadian was rated 115 over hurdles last year and if he could get back to that level over fences then he'd be a threat though the jury is out on the evidence of two runs so far. Rathmulen landed a Southwell novices' handicap chase in May but was anchored by a 12lb rise when returning for a repeat bid. A 6 month break should not be a major issue, though the Henrietta Knight runners are not inspiring at present. Firth Of Forth would have a good chance if able to reproduce his Uttoxeter running of 13 months ago, but he has been out of sorts ever since and can't be backed with confidence. Blazing Diva is the suggestion.
Firth Of Forth (IRE) 9-1 (10-13) Held up, headway to go in touch approaching 4 out, ridden and weakened next, last of 10, 33l behind The Gangerman (10-10) at Carlisle 3m hcp chs 0-130 (3) hvy in Oct.
Rathmulen (IRE) 11-4jt-fav (11-11) Led to 2nd, tracked leaders, weakened 4 out, took poor 2nd last, 2nd of 7, 28l behind Red Granite (10-8) at Southwell 2m 5f nov hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Jun.
The Big Canadian (IRE) 11-2 (11-5) Held up, closer order 7th, tracked leader 10th, led 13th, headed and weakened 2 out, 5th of 6, 30l behind Captain Aubrey (11-11) at Towcester 2m 6f hcp chs 0-110 (4) sft in Nov.
Blazing Diva (IRE) 10-1 (10-5) Tracked leader, led 7th, headed and weakened 2 out, 4th of 14, 24l behind Great Endeavour (11-8) at Towcester 2m 5f nh nov hdl (3) sft in Nov.
