jumped well, made all, quickened after 2 out, comfortably
in touch, not fluent 6th, fell 7th
in touch, not fluent 12th, ridden and weaken 2 out, eased once beaten
tracked winner, not fluent 2 out, soon ridden, not quicken
always behind, tailed off from 10th
mistakes, held up, weakened approaching 14th, tailed off from 4 out
A really good early season novices' chase for us here and we take Comply Or Die to just have the edge over Ollie Magern, Smiths Landing and Out The Black. The selection was a real top class novices' hurdler last season and ran a cracker to be fourth to Fundamentalist in the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Supporters could not have asked for any more on his chasing debut at Bangor the other week when he sluiced up, and he looks set to take this on his way to contesting even better races during the course of the season. Ollie Magern will be more at home here than on the tight turns of Fakenham, where he saw off Sonevafushi last week, and he has taken to fences well. However, he will surely find it hard work to give 5lb to Comply Or Die and for that reason he is opposed. Sue Smith is preparing for perhaps her best season ever and Smiths Landing looks sure to pick up more than the two novices' chases he has landed so far. He won't mind trip or ground and could end up being another who reaches the top echelon if he can maintain an upward curve. He looks booked for a good run and can go close, while Out The Black impressed with an easy debut win at Exeter earlier in the month and could be anything. Keep an eye for market confidence there, but in the best race of its kind so far this season, we take Comply Or Die to lead them up the hill.
