mid-division, headway 5th, went 2nd after 2 out, led flat, edged right, headed towards finish
chased leader until after 2 out, weakened before last
in rear, not fluent 3rd, pushed along after 5th, losing touch from 3 out, weakened before 2 out
raced freely, led, jumped left and not fluent 1st or 2nd, ridden before last, headed flat, no extra in 3rd near finish
mid-division, headway 5th, outpaced in 4th 2 out, rallied in 3rd before last, stayed on well flat, led towards finish
held up in rear, blundered and unseated rider 4th
chased leaders until not fluent 5th, weakened 3 out
As the title suggest, this is a valid Triumph Hurdle trial and often provides useful pointers for The Festival. It’s difficult to get a line on Fret D'estruval, who has only won minor contests in France, but his trainer won this in 2006 and 2007 with high-class juvenile hurdlers. Protektorat was second in a Listed event at Auteuil on his racecourse debut so is much respected having a first run for Dan Skelton while Katpoli wasn’t disgraced in a Grade 2 here last month. Nelson River made a winning start at Bangor and Swordbill ran respectably at Newcastle but no UK-bred three-year-old has won this in the last 15 years. FANFAN DU SEUIL was struggling when falling at Chesptow in October but a subsequent win at Exeter was a better indicator of his ability. He was still green that day so there should be plenty more to come.
Fanfan Du Seuil (FR) 7-2 (11-4) Hampered 1st, tracked leaders, challenged 3 out, led before next, ridden clear between last 2, kept on well, won at Exeter 2m 1f (4) gs in Nov beating Our Power (11-4) by 5l, 11 ran.
Fret D'Estruval (FR) (11-1) won at Lyon-Parilly 2m 1f sft in Sep beating Futsala (10-4) by 5 1/2l, 6 ran.
Ghost Serge (IRE) (10-12) 2nd of 9, 7l behind Figuero (10-10) at Compiegne 2m 1f hvy in Nov.
Katpoli (FR) 12-1 (10-12) Held up in main group, headway before 3 out, soon challenged, every chance next, ridden and one pace before last, no impression with front pair flat, lost 3rd near finish, 4th of 6, 4l behind Quel Destin (11-3) at Cheltenham 2m (1) gd in Nov.
Nelson River 11-4 (10-12) In touch, headway 5th, ridden to join leader 2 out, not fluent and led last, driven and all out, won at Bangor 2m 1f mdn (4) gs in Nov beating Nebuchadnezzar (10-12) by 1 1/4l, 9 ran.
Protektorat (FR) (10-5) 2nd of 11, 4l behind Fraca De Thaix (10-5) at Auteuil 2m 2f lst gd in Sep.
Swordbill 10-1 (10-12) Tracked leader, mistake 4th, driven to challenge before 2 out, soon no impression, 3rd of 6, 9 1/4l behind Style De Vole (10-12) at Newcastle 2m (2) gs in Dec.
