held up in 5th, headway and in touch on outside 9th, mistake next, lost place and reminders 11th, behind 5 out, pulled up before next
held up in rear, hit 8th, headway 5 out, led 2 out, stayed on under pressure to go clear before last, driven out
tracked leaders on inside, effort 4 out, outpaced next, soon beaten, plugged on to go moderate 3rd towards finish
led narrowly, hit 1st, headed 3rd, with leader, lost place after 5 out, ridden after next, weakened 3 out, mistake last, tailed off
hit 1st, with leader, led narrowly 3rd, ridden after 5 out, hard pressed next, wandered after 3 out, headed when went left and mistake next, soon weakened
hit 1st, tracked leaders, went 2nd after 5 out, upsides next, blundered 3 out, went left and blundered again next, soon weakened, lost moderate 3rd towards finish
Mad Max has every chance in this company given he was competing in Grade 1 chases last season, including when a well-beaten sixth to Master Minded in the Melling Chase last April. However, Giorgio Quercus has a fitness advantage and, after a better effort behind Aerial at Ascot last month, should go close here. Glenwood Knight bounced back to something like his best when second at Newcastle last time but, like Den Of Iniquity and Dinarius, he has plenty to find on today's terms. HALLEY has a much better chance at the weights and, though he'll need to brush up his jumping, the French import has plenty of ability as he showed when landing a Grade 1 chase for four-year-olds at Autueil in November - he gets the vote.
Den of Iniquity 10-1 (11-9) Chased leader, blundered 7th, went right next, lost 2nd approaching 10th, went 2nd again next, led 13th, headed and weakened rapidly after 17th, tailed off 4 out, pulled up soon after, in a race won by Rey Nacarado (11-2) at Newbury 3m 2f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft in Dec, 8 ran.
Giorgio Quercus (FR) 7-2 (11-7) Held up in rear, mistakes 7th and 10th, chased winner 2 out, weakened last, 2nd of 6, 10l behind Aerial (11-7) at Ascot 2m 5f chs (2) sft in Dec.
Mad Max (IRE) 11-1 (11-10) Led to 10th, led again 5 out, ridden and headed before last, soon weakened, 6th of 10, 17l behind Master Minded (11-10) at Aintree 2m 4f Grade 1 chs (1) gd in Apr.
Dinarius 20-1 (11-11) Raced keenly, held up in last pair, struggling 9th, tailed off 5 out, pulled up before next, in a race won by Papa Caruso (9-12) at Newcastle 2m 4f hcp chs 0-135 (3) gs in Dec, 9 ran.
Halley (FR) 20-1 (10-6) Towards rear when blundered and unseated rider 2nd, in a race won by According To Pete (9-11) at Wetherby 3m 1f Grade 3 hcp chs (4yo+) (1) sft in Dec, 13 ran.
Glenwood Knight (IRE) 16-1 (11-12) Pressed leader, led narrowly before 4th, headed before 2 out, soon ridden and one pace, no chance with winner before last, 2nd of 8, 12l behind Theologist (10-9) at Newcastle 3m hcp hdl 0-135 (3) sft.
