held up in rear, headway 6th, ridden 4f out, one pace from next
tracked leader pulled hard, weakening when hit 7th, soon tailed off, pulled up 2f out
always prominent, hit 5th, led 6th, clear when hit last, comfortable
held up in touch, ridden 4f out, chasing leader when blundered next, not recover
led, headed 6th, ridden approaching 2f out, one pace
held up, headway approaching 6th, mistake 7th, stayed on same pace
Nonrunner
Queen Alexandra winner Cruzspiel is a potentially interesting recruit to the novice hurdling ranks and is sure to have been well schooled for his debut over timber so gets the vote ahead of Ponderon and Billyandi. The last mentioned made a winning start to his career when landing a soft-ground bumper at Towcester in March and lost no caste in defeat behind My Skipper subsequently. Sure to do better over hurdles, the son of Zaffaran may prefer a bit more cut in the ground and is probably best passed over today. Hard N Sharp is consistent but exposed, while Rome has yet to reproduce his flat form over hurdles. A market move for Be Telling would be of interest but a bigger threat is likely to come from Wetherby winner Ponderon, although a 6lb penalty for that success in May leaves him with more to do today. Star Fever and Orinocovsky cannot be ruled out entirely but Cruzspiel is different class to these on the level and, provided that he jumps well enough, should be too classy for his rivals here.
Ponderon 4-1 (11-0) Tracked leaders, headway 5th, challenged 4 out, led before next, ridden 2 out, stayed on under pressure flat, won at Wetherby 2m 4f nov hdl (D) gd in May beating Enhancer (11-10) by 2l, 10 ran.
Billyandi (IRE) 2-1 (11-11) Tracked leaders, led after 6f, ridden when headed 3f out, weakened, 4th of 7, 21l behind My Skipper (10-11) at Ludlow 2m nhf (H) sft in Mar.
Cruzspiel 33-1 (9-1) Led, ridden and headed over 3f out, weakened over 2f out, last of 8, 31l behind Millenary (9-4) at York 2m Grp 2 (1) gd in Aug (Flat).
Hard N Sharp 9-1 (10-12) Prominent, outpaced after 9th, rallied and every chance last, no extra flat, 3rd of 10, 3l behind Festive Chimes (10-8) at Uttoxeter 2m 4f nov hdl (E) gf in Sept.
Orinocovsky (IRE) 12-1 (10-4) Chased leaders until 5th, tailed off when pulled up 3 out in race won by Danish Decorum (10-7) at Uttoxeter 2m hcp chs 0-135 (C) gf in Jun, 13 ran.
Rome (IRE) 3-1jt-fav (10-12) Prominent, ridden 6th, weakened 3 out and pulled up in race won by Miss Merenda (10-3) at Fontwell 2m 6f nov hdl (E) gf in Sept, 7 ran.
Be Telling (IRE) 33-1 (11-4) Held up, always in rear, 10th of 11, well behind Voy Por Ustedes (11-7) at Huntingdon 2m nov hdl (E) gd in Jan.
Star Fever (IRE) 20-1 (10-8) Soon behind, 3rd of 6, well behind Nautic (10-8) at Towcester 2m nh nov hdl (E) gf in May.
