in touch, headway 6th, ridden to lead soon after last, headed and no extra towards finish
in touch, ridden approaching 2 out, soon weakened
chased leader, led 3 out, ridden and headed soon after last, weakened towards finish
mid-division, headway 5th, ridden 2 out, weakened approaching last
behind, ridden and headway approaching last, kept on but never nearer
keen hold, chased leaders, ridden approaching last, soon one-paced
held up, hit 2 out, ridden and headway approaching last, stayed on strongly to lead towards finish
jumped right, led to 6th, ridden 2 out, soon weakened
held up, always behind
always towards rear, lost touch from 3 out
Easily the best juvenile hurdle seen this season and a race that is sure to have a significant impact on the betting for the JCB Triumph Hurdle in March with the first two in bookmakers' ante-post lists lining up. Don Fernando, a mid-80s rated flat horse with Ed Dunlop, has made a highly satisfactory start to his hurdling career with wins here in November and again the following month. The colt made hard work of beating Lilium De Cotte and Nas Na Riogh on the latest of those occasions and, although the last mentioned went on frank the form by winning the Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow subsequently, slight preference is for Saintsaire. Nicky Henderson's gelding, a winner on the flat in France, could not have been more impressive in beating Vanormix on his debut at Newbury and, with more improvement to come, he looks the one to beat. Guillaume Macaire, the trainer of Lilium De Cotte, has a good line to both horses for his representative Lougaroo. While another French import, the Paul Nicholls-trained Le Duc, has shown enough to suggest that he can be a threat to the market leaders. Robert Alner's Kadara created a favourable impression when making a winning debut at Kempton and has to be respected but this is tougher. Christian Von Der Recke has done well with his German raiders this term and it will be interesting to see if Money train can improve for the experience gained in two previous starts over timber. However, this looks set to be a battle royal between the two market leaders and it is the Henderson horse that gets the vote.
