held up in touch, headway and hit 3 out, slightly hampered and outpaced from next
held up towards rear, headway approaching 3 out, soon outpaced
chased clear leader, reminders after 5th, soon struggling
held up towards rear, ridden after 4 out, never dangerous
mid-division, struggling from 4 out, pulled up before next
mid-division, ridden after 6th, soon weakened
held up mid-division, headway to chase leaders approaching 3 out, led before last, kept on well
led, soon clear until 4th, headed approaching 3 out, soon weakened, pulled up before last, tailed off
held up towards rear, weakened approaching 3 out
held up, headway 4 out, weakened approaching last
mid-division, headway to chase leaders approaching 3 out, every chance approaching last, one pace
held up in touch, ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened
held up in touch, led approaching 3 out, ridden and headed approaching last, soon weakened
Checkerboard sets the standard here and looks good enough to follow up his debut success from Sinatas and Raise Your Game. Howard Johnson's charge won a Haydock bumper in the spring, when he was eased down to record his success. A slight concern is the form of the stable, but they are stilll having the odd winner and we will just give Checkerboard the nod. Sinatas performed with plenty of credit when runner up in a Perth maiden hurdle in August and with Peter Monteith's yard having had a couple of winners recently he is very much respected. Raise Your Game was well beaten when returning from a lengthy absence at Chepstow recently, but with the cobwebs now blown off we should see improvement. Meertrix was well beaten when pulled up on debut but from a local yard that does very well here we should see more this time. However, Checkerboard looked decent on debut and can go in again.
Besi 40-1 (8-13) Prominent, pushed along over 5f out, weakened over 2f out, 15th of 16, well behind Best Of The Lot (8-13) at Newcastle 1m 2f hcap (6) gs in Jun (Flat).
Checkerboard (IRE) 10-1 (10-10) Tracked leaders and keen, ridden to lead over 1f out, kept on well, won at Haydock 2m nhf (6) gd in Apr beating Glenary (11-2) by 3 1/2l, 17 ran.
Film Festival (USA) 12-1 (11-7) Prominent, mainly 2nd, dropped to 4th and ridden before straight, soon lost place and weakened, 14th of 18, 25l behind Impudent (10-11) at Killarney 2m 1f mdn hdl gd in May.
Georgedoubleyou (IRE) 100-1 (11-0) Held up towards rear, mistake and unseated rider 3 out in race won by Bouncing King (11-7) at Hexham 2m 4f nh nov hdl (4) gf in Jun, 10 ran.
Greenbelt 20-1 (8-10) Prominent, ridden 3f out, weakened final furlong, 11th of 16, 9l behind Le Soleil (8-6) at Newcastle 1m 4f hcp 0-70 (5) gd in Apr (Flat).
Jazrawy 33-1 (10-9) Raced keenly, held up, lost place 4th, soon behind, 14th of 16, 48l behind Montana Slim (11-5) at Carlisle 2m 1f nov hdl (4) gs.
Joshua's Gold (IRE) 10-1 (10-12) Towards rear, never nearer, 7th of 11, 41l behind The Cayterers (10-9) at Leicester 2m nov hdl (4) gs.
Lazzoom (IRE) 100-1 (10-2) Led, ridden over 3f out, headed well over 2f out, soon weakened, last of 8, 16l behind Living On A Prayer (10-10) at Musselburgh 1m 4f amt hcp 0-80 (5) gd (Flat).
Meertrix (IRE) 10-1 (11-2) Mid-division, ridden halfway, soon beaten, behind when pulled up 3 out in race won by Or de Grugy (11-2) at Perth 2m 4f mdn hdl (4) gd in May, 16 ran.
Moonhawk 8-1 (8-13) Held up, effort over 3f out, ridden and weakened over 1f out, 6th of 11, 11l behind She's Our Lass (9-4) at Ayr 1m 2f hcap (5) gs in Sept (Flat).
Naval Attache 150-1 (11-2) Pulled hard in rear, tailed off when pulled up at the 3rd in race won by Soulard (10-7) at Sedgefield 2m 4f mdn chs (4) gf, 7 ran.
Ninetyninetreble (IRE) 66-1 (11-0) Chased leaders, weakened approaching 3 out, 4th of 9, 14l behind Star Beat (10-11) at Wetherby 2m 3f nov hdl (4) gf.
Raise Your Game (IRE) 16-1 (11-0) Mid-division, mistake 4th, ridden and weakened 3 out, 7th of 15, 27l behind Planet of Sound (11-0) at Chepstow 2m mdn hdl (5) gd.
Sinatas (GER) 5-2 (11-0) Tracked leaders, headway when hit 3 out, soon ridden and lost place, kept on approaching last, one pace flat, 2nd of 8, 2l behind Raffish (11-1) at Perth 2m mdn hdl (5) gs in Aug.
La Troussardiere (FR) (9-13) Never dangerous, pulled up before 2 out pulled up in race won by Djapakaan (10-4) at La Roche 1m 7f hdl frm in Jun '06, 7 ran.
Watch The Wind 16-1 (9-13) In rear, jumped slowly 2nd, never on terms, 8th of 18, 46l behind Ouh Jay (11-9) at Uttoxeter 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-105 (4) gs in Jul.
