held up in rear, not fluent 11th, well beaten 3 out
held up, headway 6th, 4th and one pace 2 out, no extra before last
held up, in touch after 8th, outpaced 3 out, no extra next
chased leaders, not fluent 2nd or 3 out, chased winner 2 out, kept on, no impression
chased leaders on outside, lost place 4th, ridden 10th, effort home bend, mistake 3 out, no extra
led, mistake 9th, headed and not fluent 3 out, no extra last
chased leader, upsides 11th, led 3 out, clear last, very easily
NonRunner
Winning point-to-pointer Pogue was well supported when attempting to make all on his return from a break over 2m at Kelso but couldn't find extra when headed at the last. EMPIRE DE MAULDE, four times a bumper winner in France, took some time to reach his peak for James Ewart but came good over hurdles earlier this year and looks the type to do even better over fences so gets the vote. Mah Mate Bob has thrived in testing conditions since transferring to fences and is only 3lb higher than his latest victory at Hexham. Monsieur D'Arque, a winning point-to-pointer and hurdler, made his chasing debut at Southwell earlier this month but didn't show much and will need to do better.
Empire De Maulde (FR) 11-4 (11-8) Held up in rear, smooth progress after 4 out, every chance when mistake 3 out, led before next, stayed on well, won at Doncaster 2m 1f hcp (4) gd in Mar beating Lazarus (11-6) by 3 1/4l, 6 ran.
Monsieur D'Arque (IRE) 5-1 (11-8) Chased winner until before 3 out, weakened before 2 out, 6th of 7, 20 3/4l behind Katpoli (11-4) at Southwell 2m hcp (3) sft in Dec.
Carrigmoorna Matt (IRE) 8-1 (11-11) Held up in touch on inside, outpaced 3 out, weakened from next, lost remote 4th flat, 5th of 8, dist behind Maison D'Or (10-4) at Catterick 3m 1f hcp (4) gs in Nov.
Pogue (IRE) 5-4fav (11-0) Led, drew clear 3 out, headed approaching last, soon rallied, kept on well under pressure, 2nd of 13, 1 3/4l behind Do Not Disturb (11-0) at Kelso 2m mdn (4) gs in Oct.
Mance Rayder (IRE) 33-1 (11-7) Slipped up on bend soon after start, at Musselburgh 2m 4f hcp (4) gs in Nov.
Mah Mate Bob (IRE) 2-1fav (11-12) Made most, ridden 2 out, stayed on run in, won at Hexham 2m hcp (4) hvy in Nov beating Lastin' Memories (10-12) by 1 1/2l, 9 ran.
Almazhar Garde (FR) 5-1fav (11-1) Mid-division on outside, tracked leaders 4th, outpaced after 3 out, weakened before last, 6th of 11, 23l behind Cuban Pete (11-3) at Hereford 2m 5f hcp (4) gd in Nov.
Inca Gold (IRE) 8-1 (11-1) Held up in last trio, headway on inside tracking leaders before 4 out, not much room on bend in 3rd before next, soon pushed along, fell 2 out, at Sedgefield 2m hcp (4) sft in Nov.
