tracked leaders, ridden and lost place 6th
held up, headway 5 out, chased winner 3 out, one pace
held up, headway 6th, ridden and weakened 3 out
led, headed approaching 5 out, ridden and weakened 3 out
held up, lost place 3rd, headway 7th, blundered 4 out, stayed on under pressure to take 3rd line
tracked leader, lead approaching 5 out, comfortably
held up, ridden 5 out, no impression
Former Gold Cup contender Bob Bob Bobbin is dangerously well handicapped now but we prefer the chances of TRAMANTANO while Almaydan is the other one to consider. After winning comfortably on his penultimate the pick was raised to a career high mark but showed under that in this conmpany it is well within his scope finishing a clear second to the impressive Pablo Du Charmil last time out. The Nigel Twiston-Davies yard are now back in form with several winners in the last few days, which add to this one's stock. Bob Bob Bobbin is now at the lowest mark of his career and has shown a very small glimmer of a return to form but perhaps not enough to suggest he'll win here. That said on these terms he'll struggle to find a better opportunity. Almaydan seems to be in the grip of the assessor at the moment but is running really well of late as showed with his credible effort last time, however he did weaken late on. This will be a similar test to that last outing so he should be close at the business end. Wild Power has been running consistently well but has much more to do under these conditions so all in all it looks a race for Tramantano.
Almaydan 10-1 (11-12) Tracked winner 3rd, ridden and weakened 3 out, 3rd of 8, 20l behind Lorient Express (10-10) at Sandown 2m hcp chs 0-145 (2) gs in Jan.
Foreman (GER) 33-1 (10-13) Held up towards rear, effort 8th, never dangerous, 10th of 14, 33l behind Synchronised (10-4) at Haydock 3m 1f hcp hdl (2) sft.
Tramantano 7-2 (10-0) Held up towards rear, hit 2nd, mistake 8th, closed 4 out, went 2nd 2 out, no chance with winner, 2nd of 7, 10l behind Pablo Du Charmil (10-9) at Cheltenham 2m hcp chs (2) sft in Nov.
Bleu Superbe (FR) 25-1 (11-1) Mid-division, hit 2nd, ridden and struggling before 9th, behind when pulled up 4 out in race won by Petit Robin (11-3) at Newbury 2m 1f hcp chs 0-145 (2) gs in Nov, 11 ran.
Palarshan (FR) 16-1 (10-11) Hampered 1st, mid-division, weakening when mistake 13th, 7th of 17, 33l behind Miss Mitch (10-5) at Ascot 2m 5f hcp chs (2) gs in Jan.
Bob Bob Bobbin 15-2 (11-10) Held up, not fluent 11th (water), hit next, weakened 15th, tailed off, 5th of 8, well behind Go For One (11-2) at Newbury 3m 2f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft in Dec.
Wild Power (GER) 12-1 (10-5) Held up towards rear, headway 8th, chasing leaders 4 out, weakening when switched left approaching last, 5th of 15, 18l behind Young Tot (11-7) at Ludlow 2m hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Oct.
