jumped well, made all, in command soon after 2 out, drew well clear approaching last, eased flat
chased leaders, ridden and mistake 11th, no chance with front pair when lost moderate 3rd approaching 2 out
chased winner, not fluent 3rd, mistake 10th and next, ridden and 4 lengths down when blundered 2 out and soon no impression
mistake in rear, went poor 3rd approaching 2 out
raced in 4th, dropped to rear 7th, blundered 8th, lost touch next, tailed off
Nonrunner
My Way De Solzen can emerge on top from this intriguing encounter with Turko, while, as Miko De Beauchene is expected to be rerouted to Exeter (if it's not abandoned); it may be down to Predicament to claim the position as the 'best of the rest'. Predicament has a lot of improvement to find to trouble the main contenders though and, with all due respect, this looks set to be a two horse race if they both stay out of trouble. Turko gets the five-year-olds' allowance and has plenty of scope to improve over fences. He has taken each step of his education in his stride so far and is likely to make the selection pull out all the stops. However, My De Solzen is a classy type and is fancied to rise to the challenge. The Alan King-trained gelding was always going to struggle over two miles when he came up against Fair Along at Sandown last time. But that was a very respectable effort in finishing 10 lengths adrift of a leading Arkle trophy hope. This step up in trip (on the anticipated going) is not expected to pose any problems for My Way De Solzen and the gelding is a strong fancy to make his experience count against his younger rival.
My Way de Solzen (FR) 4-7fav (11-8) Tracked winner, hit 4th, soon challenging, led briefly 2 out, soon shaken up and no response, weakened flat, 2nd of 5, 10l behind Fair Along (10-13) at Sandown 2m nov chs Grd 2 (1) sft in Dec.
Predicament 200-1 (11-0) In touch, ridden when hit 3 out, soon beaten, 5th of 7, 24l behind Don't Push It (11-5) at Cheltenham 2m 5f nov chs (2) sft in Dec.
Turko (FR) 4-7fav (10-13) With leader and jumped left throughout, led 12th, quickened on bit 4 out, jumped badly left 3 out, blundered badly 2 out, driven clear from last, won at Wincanton 2m 5f nov chs Grd 2 (1) gd in Nov beating Boychuk (11-10) by 3 1/2l, 5 r.
Dalriath 10-1 (9-13) Jumped left, held up, hit 2nd, headway after 3 out, stayed on, never troubled leaders, 3rd of 9, 17l behind Charlton Kings (11-8) at Ascot 2m 1f nov hcp chs 0-115 (3) gd in Dec.
Lago d'Oro 50-1 (10-5) Held up, reminded approaching 9th, struggling from next, tailed off when pulled up at the 15th in race won by Character Building (10-12) at Warwick 3m 2f beg chs (4) gs in Dec, 6 ran.
Miko de Beauchene (FR) 6-1 (11-0) Held up, headway 6th, hit 10th, led 3 out, soon clear, won at Chepstow 3m beg chs (4) gs in Oct beating Teeton Babysham (11-0) by 9l, 7 ran.
