pressed leaders, led before 2nd, jumped left 12th, headed before 3 out, ridden before 2 out, kept on under pressure but no chance with winner
close up, ridden and lost ground before 12th, one pace from 3 out, lost 3rd close home
midfield, lost ground 8th, not fluent 10th and pushed along, adrift in rear 4 out, tailed off from 3 out
towards rear, some way adrift of leaders 12th, hit 13th, virtually tailed off 3 out, stayed on strongly from 2 out, took 3rd close home
in rear, tended to jumped left throughout, tailed off from 3 out
led, settled behind leader before 2nd, awkward 8th, mistake 12th, led before 3 out, awkward 2 out, pushed clear last, stayed on strongly
A few of these are resuming a chasing career late in life and WILLIAM HENRY was pulled up in his only previous try over the larger obstacles, though had excuses. Sam Thomas’ charge has since proved himself to be very smart over hurdles and the 10-year-old could outclass these with a clear round. The danger appears to be Lies About Milan, who is a nine-year-old himself but has only had four career starts and won a point. He was only beaten a head at Huntingdon in March but Diomede des Mottes only beat one home at Bangor in September and was pulled up at Aintree subsequently.
Diomede Des Mottes (FR) 4-1fav (11-4) Held up in rear, not fluent 2nd, mistake 5th, behind 13th, pulled up before 4 out, at Aintree 3m 1f hcp (3) sft in Oct.
Lies About Milan (IRE) 2-1 (11-2) Tracked leading pair, left in close 2nd at 15th, ridden to lead 2 out, driven and wandered run-in, headed and unable to quicken final strides, 2nd of 3, hd behind Equus Secretus (11-2) at Huntingdon 3m (4) hvy in Mar.
Perform (IRE) 5-1 (11-5) Towards rear, last and struggling 13th, tailed off and pulled up before 4 out, at Newton Abbot 3m 2f hcp (3) gs in May.
Volcano (FR) 5-1 (11-8) Midfield, not fluent 1st and 7th, towards rear 11th, ridden before 3 out, kept on from 2 out but no chance with winner, 2nd of 10, 8l behind Kapga De Lily (10-9) at Bangor-on-Dee 2m 4f hcp (5) sft in Oct.
Whitley Neill (IRE) 150-1 (11-4) Towards rear, not fluent 4th, reminders 5th, tailed off before 6th, pulled up before 7th, at Bangor-on-Dee 2m 4f hcp (4) hvy in Oct.
William Henry (IRE) 5-1 (11-7) Hampered start, led until jumped slowly and headed 3rd, dropped to 4th place 4 out, looked beaten next, rallied and hit 2 out, 3rd between last 2, plenty to do last, stayed on strongly to lead last 100 yards, won at Fontwell 2m 3f (1) sft in Feb beating Quel Destin (11-7) by 1 1/2l, 5 ran.
