held up in rear, headway 7th, chased winner when not fluent 2 out, soon ridden, 2 1/2 lenghts down when fell last
held up, niggled along and headway approaching 5th, led 3 out, ridden and 2 1/2 lenghts ahead when left well clear last
held up in 4th until lost place before 5th, weakened next, pulled up approaching 7th
led until mistake 3 out, weakened after next, left remote 3rd last
held up in rear, mistakes, behind 5th, tailed off when pulled up approaching 7th
prominent, not fluent 2nd or 5th, mistake 6th, weakened after 2 out, left remote 2nd last
tracked leader until 7th, mistake and weakened 3 out, tailed off
Spirit Is Needed didn't beat much at Bangor last time having previously proved hard to win with and may struggle to follow up here, despite receiving 5lb from PRIORS GOLD. The four-year-old, Gordon Elliott's first runner here, has been in fair form on the level since his last run over hurdles and should be too good for these. Dot Or Feather has proved disappointing under Rules so far while Malibu Sun was pulled up at Aintree in June and hasn't raced since. Forever My Friend was only third over C&D nine days ago but should improve for the experience and has more scope than some.
Priors Gold 11-4 (11-0) Chased leaders, 4th halfway, 3rd 5 out, ridden to challenge in 2nd 2 out, slightly hampered approaching last, no extra in 3rd run-in, kept on same pace, 3rd of 7, 4l behind Tom Horn (11-12) at Bellewstown 2m 4f hdl gf in Jul.
Spirit Is Needed (IRE) Evensfav (11-0) Tracked leaders, not fluent 7th or 8th, soon ridden, driven to lead approaching 2 out, clear before last, easily, won at Bangor 2m 4f mdn hdl (4) gd beating Rhyton (10-12) by 10l, 6 ran.
Malibu Sun 7-1 (10-4) Held up in rear, jumped right and not fluent 4th, hit 7th, hampered next, 5th and ridden after 10th, soon weakened, pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by Scotsbrook Cloud (11-2) at Aintree 3m hcp hdl 0-125 (3) gd in Jun, 9 ran.
Dot Or Feather (IRE) 2-1fav (11-0) Pressed winner until before 2nd, tracked leaders, ridden after 9th, weakened 2 out, 3rd of 11, 26l behind Strong Soul (11-0) at Worcester 3m mdn hdl (5) gd in Jul.
Tee Shot (IRE) 100-1 (10-11) Always towards rear, 8th of 11, well behind Lightening Rod (10-11) at Southwell 2m n h flat (4) std in Dec.
Forever My Friend (IRE) 5-2 (10-13) Held up behind in touch, jumped left 3rd, hit 6th, went 3rd 2 out, plugged on same pace, no chance with leading pair, 3rd of 7, 24l behind Jive Master (11-1) at Hereford 2m 4f mdn hdl (4) gf.
Royale Bruere (FR) 7-2 (11-7) in a race won by Flying Phento (11-7) at Larkhill 3m ptp sft in Feb, 12 ran.
Titch Strider (IRE) 4-1 (10-0) Held up in rear, headway before 3 out, soon tracking leader, effort when hit 2nd last, weakened flat, 3rd of 7, 17l behind Kack Handed (11-5) at Fontwell 2m 2f nh nov hdl (4) gf.
