pulled hard, held up in 4th, went 3rd before 8th, went 2nd 12th, pushed along before 4 out, not fluent and held 2 out, ridden between last 2, stayed on same pace, no chance with winner
jumped well, tracked leader, led after 10th, made rest, in command 2 out, driven clear
kept wide, raced in close 3rd, dropped to 4th before 8th, not fluent 10th, rallied into 3rd again 14th, pushed along and held when mistake 4 out
led until after 10th, chased winner until 12th, weakened and behind 14th, tailed off and pulled up before 4 out
Mr Mafia won off this mark at Ludlow in May and the veteran is no forlorn hope in this but VISION DES FLOS (NAP) won a race at Warwick last month for the second year running and did so with a fair bit in hand. Though it’s a while since the latter won over a trip this far, stamina isn’t an issue. Shantou Express has been disappointing over fences so far but Red Happy arrives in good form and is just a pound higher than when scoring over the larger obstacles at Bangor in August.
Vision Des Flos (FR) 13-8fav (11-4) Raced keenly in 3rd, went 2nd soon after 12th, pushed along to challenge 2 out, soon led, shaken up and went clear between last two, stayed on strongly, won at Warwick 2m 4f hcp (3) gd in Sep beating Golden Taipan (11-9) by 7l, 5 ran.
Red Happy (FR) 5-2 (11-6) Close up, led with a circuit to go, jumped right at times, ridden after 3 out, headed last, stayed on, no match for winner, 2nd of 4, 7 1/2l behind Shearer (11-0) at Worcester 2m 7f (3) gd in Oct.
Shantou Express (IRE) 5-4 (11-5) Led until blundered badly all but fell and unseated rider 1st, at Kelso 2m 7f hcp (3) gd in Oct.
Mr Mafia (IRE) 13-8 (11-13) Led until before 7th, led 10th, not fluent 14th, headed after 15th, rallied 2 out, every chance last, held towards finish, 2nd of 3, 1 1/4l behind Cheltenam De Vaige (11-7) at Newton Abbot 3m 2f hcp (4) gd in Aug.
