held up in rear, went 3rd at 7th, weakened approaching 3 out, blundered last, lost 3rd flat
tracked leader until 4th, chased leading pair until pushed along approaching 8th, soon weakened, took poor 3rd flat
made all, took keen hold early, clear approaching 3 out, eased after last
tracked leaders in 3rd, chased winner approaching 4th, blundered 10th, no impression from 3 out, jumped left 2 out
This appears to be a match between BALZACCIO and Tullamore Dew and Alan King's charge is taken to come out on top. The winning hurdler looked held by the handicapper in that discipline following his success at Huntingdon in December but he made a promising start to his career over birch when going down narrowly here over two and a half miles and looks capable of going one better. Tullamore Dew was the better hurdler of the pair and ran a blinder to finish second to Spirit River in the Coral Cup but was rather disappointing on his return to action at Chepstow. It's often worth forgiving a poor run at that venue and the run should have brought him on but Balzaccio's prior experience of chasing wins him the vote.
Bold Pioneer (USA) 9-2 (10-2) Raced keenly, led, hit 5th, headed next, chased winner until 4 out, went left and lost 3rd 3 out, beaten when blundered 2 out, tailed off, 5th of 7, well behind Ponchatrain (11-12) at Lingfield 2m 4f hcp 0-90 (5) sft.
Daring Approach (IRE) 33-1 (11-3) Chased winner until 6th, stayed in 3rd until 9th, soon behind, tailed off, 6th of 8, well behind Bai Zhu (11-3) at Fontwell 2m 4f nov chs (4) gs in Oct.
Tullamore Dew (IRE) 15-2 (11-3) Held up towards rear, headway after 5 out to chase leaders, weakened approaching and hampered 4 out, 9th of 13, well behind Any Given Day (10-8) at Chepstow 2m 4f Listed hcp hdl (1) sft in Oct.
Zhukov (IRE) (10-7) 98th of 11, well behind Questarabad (10-7) at Auteuil(FR) 3m hdl.
Balzaccio (FR) 11-8fav (11-3) Tracked leading pair, chased winner 6th, driven to challenge last, upsides when bumped run-in, just held, 2nd of 8, nk behind Bai Zhu (11-3) at Fontwell 2m 4f nov chs (4) gs in Oct.
Sieglinde (FR) 66-1 (10-5) Chased winner, dropped to 3rd when mistake 4th, chased winner again 7th, ridden and lost 2nd before 3 out, well held 3rd when hit last 3, 3rd of 6, 26l behind Easter Legend (11-0) at Fontwell 2m 4f beg chs (4) gs.
