led 1st, ridden and headed after 2 out, weakened last
chased leaders, led after 2 out, drew clear flat, easily
mid-division, hit 3 out, ridden flat, stayed on, not reached leaders
pulled hard in rear, headway 3rd, mistake 4th, ridden and every chance last, not quicken flat
held up, headway 5th, weakened 3 out
led to 1st, with leader, ridden approaching 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out
held up, ridden and headway approaching 2 out, kept on, never dangerous
Ferdy Murphy has been bullish about the prospects of his string for this season, and he can begin to show us why in this race with L'Antartique, who looks good enough, while Reap The Reward, Gustavo and Supreme Destiny all have points of interest. L'Antartique has joined Murphy from Tony Mullins, for whom he ran second, albeit 25 lengths in arrears, of champion hurdler Hardy Eustace in February. He is battled hardened, handles plenty of cut, and there wouldn't be too many of these capable of getting even that close to the champ, so he looks to have every chance. Reap The Reward has been handled more patiently by Len Lungo, with just a pleasing debut at Perth under his belt thus far. He's open to plenty of improvement, though his pedigree suggests he wants top of the ground. Gustavo needed the run at Bangor last time and may be better dropped back in trip. He handled good to soft on the level, and with his yard running into form he could be the danger here. Of the others, Supreme Destiny is probably better than he has shown thus far, and hopefully he can show more on ground he will act upon, but L'Antartique has the right credentials to take this today.
Gustavo 12-1 (10-11) Mid-division, headway 6th, ridden 3 out, soon weakened, behind when pulled up 2 out in race won by Good Samaritan (10-11) at Bangor 2m 4f nov hdl (D) gs in Oct, 15 ran.
L'Antartique (FR) 8-1 (11-0) Mid-division, not fluent, pushed along halfway, no extra after 5 out, 12th of 17, 24l behind Teeming Rain (11-2) at Thurles 2m 4f nov hdl Grd 3 gs in Mar.
Morgan Be 100-1 (10-12) Always towards rear, 9th of 15, 42l behind Nor'nor'east (10-12) at Wetherby 2m 4f nh nov hdl (E) sft in Oct.
Oddsmaker (IRE) 20-1 (9-1) Towards rear far side, never dangerous, 12th of 20, 8l behind Tony Tie (9-1) at Newcastle 1m hcp 45-70 (5) gf in Sept (Flat).
Reap The Reward (IRE) 10-1 (11-1) Mid-division, headway 3f out, ridden and effort 2f out, kept on inside final furlong, 3rd of 18, 4l behind Powerlove (10-3) at Perth 2m nhf (H) gs in Apr.
Supreme Destiny (IRE) 50-1 (10-13) Chased leader, weakened over 4f out, 11th of 16, 48l behind Rasharrow (11-1) at Wetherby 2m nhf (H) gd.
Tiger King (GER) 100-1 (8-12) Mid-division, driven over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, 12th of 16, 31l behind Rawdon (9-4) at Haydock 1m 3f hcp (4) gs in Sept (Flat).
West Hill (IRE) 9-1 (9-8) Led, ridden and headed approaching 2 out, weakened approaching last, 4th of 8, 21l behind Master Nimbus (9-11) at Bangor 2m 1f cnd nov hcp hdl (E) gs in Aug.
