held up in touch and keen, jumped right 9th, ridden before 4 out, weakened from 3 out
tracked leader to 4th, reminders after 5 out, weakened before 4 out
led, clear before 4 out, ridden and headed last 50 yards
held up in rear and keen, hampered 9th, weakened before 4 out
held up in touch, weakened before 4 out
towards rear, ridden and headway before 4 out, soon chased leading pair, kept on same pace
tracked leaders on outer, went 2nd from 4th, ridden before last, kept on to lead last 50 yards
Araucaria was easily the best of these over hurdles, finishing third in a Grade 3 at Down Royal last season. There isn't a lot of chasing influence in her pedigree, however, and this will be her first run for a new yard having left John Kiely in the spring. At the likely odds, we'll take her on with MISS SAFFRON who never got competitive on her chasing bow here last month but jumped well enough and wasn't unduly punished. She is a half-sister to a winning chaser so should improve on that and her stable is in decent form. Arctic Flow was pulled up over 3m here recently but is another with a chasing pedigree open to improvement. She looks the pick of her stable's two runners and is preferred to Lupita of the others.
Araucaria (IRE) 7-1 (10-4) Chased leaders, moderate 5th after 4 out, 6th approaching straight, soon no impression under pressure, kept on same pace, 4th of 13, 21l behind Salesin (11-5) at Cork 2m 3f hcp hdl 0-140 gd in Apr.
Arctic Flow 16-1 (10-0) Towards rear, never travelled, blundered 10th, tailed off and pulled up 14th, in a race won by Sarika (11-5) at Exeter 3m nov hcp chs 0-105 (4) gs, 11 ran.
Brixen (IRE) 9-1 (10-13) Led until 5th, weakened approaching 2 out, 10th of 17, 50l behind Grafite (11-1) at Towcester 2m 3f hcp hdl 0-120 (3) sft in Dec '10.
Identimin 150-1 (10-7) Mistake 2nd, always in last pair, weakened 4 out, tailed off, 9th of 10, well behind Kentford Grey Lady (10-10) at Newbury 2m 5f mares NH nov hdl (3) gs in Nov.
Lupita (IRE) 50-1 (10-0) Chased winner to after 3 out, weakened before next, 4th of 5, well behind On Trend (11-0) at Towcester 2m 6f nov chs (4) gd in Nov.
Miss Saffron 14-1 (10-5) Always behind, never in contention, 8th of 15, 29l behind Bless The Wings (11-11) at Exeter 2m 3f nov hcp chs 0-120 (4) gs in Nov.
Molly Round (IRE) 12-1 (11-6) Led 1st, remained prominent, lost place before 6th, rallied 2 out, soon no impression, 5th of 11, 11l behind Mister Chancer (11-11) at Taunton 2m 3f hcp hdl 0-115 (4) gd.
