held up in mid-division, headway to chase winner 9th to 11th, weakened 5 out, left remote 3rd 2 out, no impression
raced keen, tracked leaders, hit 1st, ridden and weakened 9th, tailed off when pulled up before 13th
made all, ridden 3 out, stayed on strongly
held up towards rear, blundered badly 5th, hit 7th, soon lost touch, tailed off when pulled up before 11th
held up in rear, mistake 4th, struggling 7th, tailed off when pulled up before 6 out
tracked leaders, mistake 2nd, weakened quickly 9th, behind when fell 12th
held up towards rear, headway 9th, effort 4 out, third and beaten when blundered and unseated rider 2 out
Exstoto, Long Walk and Quincy's Perk all won last time and have claims of following up but we preference is for The Kew Tour. Sue Smith's gelding has been tackling stronger opposition than these since opening his account over fences at Wetherby in October. The son of Un Desperado should not be inconvenienced by the ground and is taken to resume winning ways. Richard Fahey's Exstoto has been running with credit over hurdles this term and made a winning start to his chasing career at Newcastle last time but this is tougher. He still rates a bigger danger than Sedgefield winner Quincy's Perk. Henry Daly's Long Walk gained a deserved first success over fences when scoring at Ludlow last month and should be thereabouts again, while the ex-French My Lady Link could be interesting on her second start for Venetia Williams. However, The Kew Tour sets a decent standard and should take plenty of beating.
