not fluent 1st, held up in rear, some headway from 2 out, kept on
held up, headway 3 out, mistake next, soon weakened, no chance when hit last
behind, ridden and weakened from 5th, soon lost touch
held up and behind, mistake 3rd, ridden and headway after 2 out, beaten when mistake last
prominent to 3 out, ridden and weakened quickly, tailed off
chased leader to 2 out, soon weakened
held up, not fluent 3 out, stumbled and headway after next, challenged last, not quicken flat
held up towards rear, blundered and rider lost irons 2 out, pulled up before last
close up, ridden 5th, soon lost place, tailed off when pulled up before last
led, driven from 5th, headed and weakened approaching last
tracked leaders, went 2nd 2 out, led approaching last, ridden and ran on well flat
close up until ridden and weakened 2 out
A decent novices' hurdle by the track's standards with some useful types on show. Among those worthy of a mention are Lady Jeannie, who upset odds of 50/1 when making a winning hurdling debut on heavy ground at Plumpton earlier in the month. She will not mind the similarly testing conditions but will find this opposition tougher, especially under her penalty. Dual bumper winner Phar From Fair was no match for Rhinestone Cowboy on his final start in that grade at Cheltenham's Open meeting but has to be respected on his hurdles debut, while the trio of three-year-olds have the benefit of receiving weight from their older rivals. The Philip Hobbs-trained Do L'Enfant D'Eau created a favourable impression when beating another French import Oracle Des Mottes at Hereford last month but was well held behind Bongo Fury at Sandown Park subsequently. He looks the pick of the younger brigade over Mark Pitman's Briar and the John Jenkins-trained Environment Audit, who gets all the allowances going. The TEAMtalk selection, though, has to be No Merci. Christian Von Der Recke has done well with his raiders this season and this daughter of General Assembly, who handles testing ground conditions on the flat, is sure to have been well schooled for her hurdles debut. As with a lot of the stable's runners, Tony McCoy has been booked and it could be another winner for the German and Irish partnership.
