held up, closed 5th, no impression in 3rd before 4 out, went 2nd last, no chance with easy winner
held up in 4th, headway approaching 5th, chased winner before next, no chance from 3 out, weakened and lost 2nd last
raced keenly, jumped badly left, led, blundered 3rd, headed 5th, weakened next, tailed off
tracked leader to 2nd, in touch, ridden after 8th, soon weakened, tailed off
tracked leader 2nd, led 5th, easily drew clear from 3 out
There have been some decent sorts contested this over the years and the latest of them, TATANIANO can take this year's renewal, while the other quartet can battle for the minors. The selection has course winning form over 2m 3f to his name when taking a novices' hurdle on New Year's Day, and he won half of his six hurdle races. He was last seen when a wide margin winner of a Cheltenham contest in April, when rated 139, which is well clear of his rivals here. Sure to have been well prepared, a clear round should see him score. Like A Duke failed to sparkle in three tries over fences last season, so he has a bit to prove now returning to them after a break, while Hereweareagain should be much better for the run and also the experience of his Stratford chase debut last month. Manmoon has run some reasonable races in defeat over fences and does at least have course form to his name, but he has a fair bit to find on what we have seen and a better proposition looks to be Award Winner. Brendan Powell's six-year-old is at home on good going and achieved a top rating of 125 over hurdles. This stiff track should suit and he looks interesting, especially if backed, although it is hard to get away from Tataniano.
Award Winner 25-1 (11-3) Rear of mid-division, headway to 10th 4 out, ridden and no extra 2 out, 16th of 25, well behind Montana Slim (10-13) at Punchestown 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-123 sft in Apr.
Hereweareagain (IRE) 33-1 (10-10) Tracked leaders, ridden after 2 out, weakened approaching last, 4th of 10, 9l behind Seven Is My Number (11-5) at Stratford 2m 4f noc chs (4) gf in Sep.
Like A Duke (FR) 20-1 (11-4) Tracked leader and keen, weakened when hit 3f out, tailed off, 7th of 10, well behind Toshi (11-2) at Bangor 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-135 (3) gd in May.
Manmoon (FR) 12-1 (11-9) Prominent, mistake 2nd, led 5th, headed 10th, lost place 4 out, 10th of 13, 39l behind Nostringsattached (11-6) at Ffos Las 2m 5f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd in Jun.
Tataniano (FR) 15-8fav (11-4) Made all, drew well clear between last 2, kept on strongly, unchallenged, won at Cheltenham 2m 1f nh nov hdl (2) gd in Apr beating Postmaster (11-4) by 21l, 9 ran.
