behind, headway 3rd, weakened approaching 4 out
held up towards rear, ridden approaching 4th, headway before 4 out, one pace from 2 out
held up towards rear, ridden and headway after 3 out, ran on flat not reach winner
held up, headway after 4th, not much room on inside approaching 4 out, soon weakened
prominent until ridden and weakened approaching 3 out
soon led, headed 2nd, prominent, outpaced 4 out, stayed on approaching last
prominent, led 2nd until headed 4 out, soon weakened
behind until moderate headway 3 out, never dangerous
held up towards rear, headway 4th, jumped into lead 4 out, soon ridden, clear last, driven out flat
held up, headway 4 out, ridden and one pace from 2 out
prominent until after 2nd, soon behind, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
mistake 1st, always behind, tailed off
prominent until weakened approaching 4 out
always behind, tailed off when pulled up before 4 out
held up mid-division, headway 4th, hard ridden and weakened 2 out
rear until some headway 3 out
A cracking contest and one that could have a bearing on the Triumph Hurdle can go to Cerium ahead of Salut Saint-Cloud, Woody Valentine and Golden Millennium. Racegoers at Chepstow are in for a treat today, with so much top-class action at the Welsh track, not least of which is this Grade 1 juvenile contest that can see Paul Nicholls' French import Cerium retain his unbeaten record on these shores. He beat little of note at Kempton in October but went about his business in a professional manner despite being described by his trainer as immature, and then progressed to beat a better field, including three of today's rivals at Cheltenham last month. That success rocketed him to the top of the betting for the Triumph Hurdle, but he does seem to relish testing conditions and so is not certain to line up in March due to the prospect of faster ground. He should certainly be followed today though and is taken to see off the challenge of Salut Saint-Cloud who to be fair was going equally as well as him when falling two out at Cheltenham. Gary Moore's charge is held in the highest regard and made up for that mishap by landing the Summit Junior Hurdle at Lingfield, with Carte Diamond back in third. Woody Valentine looked useful when opening his account over timber at the first time of asking at Warwick but has more to do, while Golden Millenium is hard to assess on his one run in Italy, but took on Group company on the Flat in Germany. Cerium has not been seriously tested so far though and is taken to come out on top
