held up, raced wide from 4th, outpaced approaching 2 out, kept on from last, no impression
chased leaders, weakened from 2 out
held up, brought wide from 4th, took close order next, led 2 out, jumped left last, stayed on well
chased leader, led 2nd, headed 2 out, one pace
prominent, jumped slow 1st, behind from 6th, soon struggling
behind, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out
held up, chased leaders, every chance approaching 2 out, weakened approaching last
led to 2nd, chased leaders, weakened after 3 out
Donald McCain's FABALU looks to have most things in his favour in the contest with bumper winner Galapagos Islands and the returning Calin Royal also given the chance. The selection has excellent form in Irish point to points some of it on testing ground and he was only just beaten in that campaign by the highly rated Inchidaly Rock, who comfortably won for Paul Nicholls on his debut for the yard over hurdles at Exeter about a week ago. Fabalu also made a winning debut under rules at Aintree landing a bumper in late October and on that performance with improvement promised he looks destined for much bigger races. Calin Royal holds a claim on this contest too after an average campaign last season. On his last run in bottomless ground here over distance he was second of eleven showing enough to suggest a win may come in a small race in the future. In the plus column Howard Johnston's charge has at least raced over hurdles but in the negative he is returning after a long absence from the racecourse. Galapagos Islands had a winning bumper debut and if he takes to jumping then will be close while Bobtante has some chance on the back of a decent hurdles debut where the form all but stands up but Fabalu should be the one.
Bobtante (IRE) 13-2 (10-12) Held up, reminders 5th, soon struggling, 5th of 11, 37l behind Border Reiver (10-12) at Wetherby 2m 4f nh nov hdl (4) gf in Oct.
Bridging Loan 80-1 (10-12) Behind, struggling from 7th, 4th of 11, 26l behind Border Reiver (10-12) at Wetherby 2m 4f nh nov hdl (4) gf in Oct.
Calin Royal (FR) 8-1 (11-1) Led to 2nd, tracked leader, led again 4th, hard pressed last, kept on, headed post, 2nd of 11, shd behind Classic Chic (11-1) at Hexham 2m 4f mdn hdl (4) hvy in Mar.
Fabalu (IRE) 25-1 (11-0) Led, ridden and headed approaching final furlong, not quicken, 2nd of 13, 3/4l behind Cloudy Times (11-4) at Aintree 2m 1f nhf (4) sft in Oct.
Galapagos Islands 13-2 (11-2) Tracked leader, led 6f out, ridden clear over 2f out, driven out, won at Market Rasen 2m 1f nhf (6) gd in Jun beating Springfield Gunner (11-2) by 2l, 7 ran.
Rash Promise (IRE) 200-1 (11-1) In touch, lost place 4th, soon behind, 8th of 14, 39l behind King Mak (11-1) at Newcastle 2m nh nov hdl (4) hvy in Mar '07.
Reindeer Dippin 16-1 (10-9) Mid-division, headway halfway, weakened over 3f out, 4th of 10, 34l behind Little Josh (10-13) at Stratford 2m nhf (5) sft in Sept.
Miss Colima 150-1 (10-7) Always rear, 10th of 15, well behind Doeslessthanme (11-0) at Kelso 2m nh mdn hdl (5) gs in Oct.
