chased leader, narrow leader 12th, blundered and headed 3 out, soon weakened
held up in rear, headway 4 out, led next, stayed on under pressure flat, all out
towards rear, weakened from 3 out, tailed off when pulled up before next
held up, ridden and headway 3 out, challenged next, ridden and weakened approaching last
held up towards rear, ridden and headway 3 out, soon under pressure and one pace
made most to 12th, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out
not fluent, tracked leaders, chased winner from 3 out, stayed on strongly flat, kept on well
close up, ridden 12th, chased winner from 3 out, soon under pressure and weakened
always behind, tailed off when blundered 3 out
in touch, ridden and weakened after 3 out
Something of a surprise to see Martin Pipe'sHorus, ante-post favourite for Saturday's Tripleprint Gold Cup, declared for this race instead. If he was strongly fancied there, he has to be fancied here also. Raised 10lbs for his Newbury win, he has the look of a well-handicapped horse and this race looks less difficult than the Tripleprint. That said, this is certainly no walk in the park. Despite not jumping fluently, Good Shuil stayed on well behind Stormez here last time over slightly further. He raced from out of the handicap there and has been raised accordingly but can't be ruled out. There is no doubt that Ross Moff, very lightly raced in the last two seasons, is potentially well handicapped on the best of his hurdling form. He fell on his chasing return but Tony Martin, who does pretty well with his raiders, would not be sending him over unless he felt he had a chance. Be My Manager beat Frenchman's Creek here in January, is 9lbs higher but certainly has ability enough to run well. Bramblehill Duke has been raised 4lbs for his Bangor win and is the type to run well from his current mark. Kit Smartie was second in this year's Great Yorkshire Chase and is 6lbs higher than for his Haydock win 13 days ago. He too adds interest to the race. Rith Dubh kept on improving last season, ending up winning at the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals. A mark of 126 does not seem excessively harsh and he too has to be considered even though the Welsh National also looks to be on his agenda. Handyman and Djeddah usually find some too good for them while Banner Gale is miles out of the handicap. Go Ballistic, a grand servant for connections over the years, is capable of running a sound race from his current mark but is rising 14-years-of-age. It might be worth taking on the likely Martin Pipe-trained favourite and Rith Dubh is taken as an alternative as the TEAMtalk selection ahead of a tilt at the Welsh National.
