in rear, jumped right, lost touch 10th, pulled up before 13th
held up, headway after 13th, ridden and every chance 3 out, one pace
tracked leader to 8th, weakened 13th
held up, headway 11th, tracked leader 13th, ridden to lead 3 out, kept on
tracked leader from 8th, hit 10th, weakened 4 out
led, soon clear, jumped slowly 3rd, hit 5 out, headed 3 out, fading when mistake 2 out
Petit Lord is sure to have been well schooled, and gets the vote to open his account over fences, with Vivid Imagination and Cannon Fire others to consider. Petit Lord was rated the best of these over hurdles, having risen to a mark of 115 on opening his account at Ayr in April. He has not been rushed, and the plan has always been to go chasing. His main rival may well be Vivid Imagination who has already had a taste of the bigger obstacles, but he was beaten when unseating at Exeter just three days ago, and hopefully that will not have left its mark. Evan Williams won this event two years ago with State Of Play, and now relies on Cannon Fire who was rated 10lb below the selection over hurdles, and who did have an alarming tendency to find one too good. The Gangerman has not been seen since falling behind Hot 'N' Holy in this last year, and is sure to need the race, so Petit Lord is the one to beat.
Absolutelythebest (IRE) 14-1 (11-8) Mid-division, reminders after 5th, behind from 8th, 9th of 11, 20l behind Dere Lyn (10-5) at Hereford 2m 3f hcp chs 0-110 (4) gf in Sept.
Bengo (IRE) 11-1 (11-10) Always behind and pulled up at the 17th in race won by Back In Business (10-5) at Perth 3m 7f hcp chs 0-115 (4) gs in Apr, 18 ran.
Cannon Fire (FR) 33-1 (10-7) Held up mid-division, weakened from 3 out, 11th of 17, 26l behind Pigeon Island (10-9) at Market Rasen 2m 3f hcp hdl 0-145 (2) gd in Sept.
Petit Lord (FR) 10-11fav (11-0) Chased leaders, ridden 3 out, led after next, drew clear from last, won at Ayr 3m hcp hdl 0-125 (3) gf in Apr beating Russian Sky (11-0) by 3 1/2l, 5 ran.
The Gangerman (IRE) 9-2 (10-5) Chased leader, mistake 10th, close up when fell 5 out in race won by Hot 'n' Holy (10-12) at Chepstow 3m nov chs (3) gd in Oct '06, 6 ran.
Vivid Imagination (IRE) 6-4fav (11-5) Tracked leader, led halfway, ridden and headed after 4 out, weakening when unseated rider 3 out in race won by Otantique (11-5) at Exeter 2m 7f beg chs (4) gf, 6 ran.
