made all, drew clear from last, stayed on strongly
held up in rear, closed from 6th, not fluent 4 out, went 2nd last, no impression on winner, stayed on same pace
held up, well in touch 10th, not fluent 12th, unable to quicken after 2 out, 3rd from last, stayed on same pace
tracked winner, every chance before 2 out, beaten when lost 2nd last, one pace
not always fluent, tracked leaders, outpaced after 3 out, well beaten next
NonRunner
NonRunner
Josses Hill has never really hit the heights expected over fences and wasn't entirely convincing when winning a match at Kempton on his return. Nicky Henderson also runs the useful Volnay De Thaix, a hurdles winner here, but More Of That and Dodging Bullets have more class. The former's run at Cheltenham was too bad to be true but the latter is not the same horse that won the 2015 Queen Mother Champion Chase. Art Mauresque is a decent handicapper but probably not up to this grade. TEA FOR TWO only weakened in the closing stages over 3m at Ascot when in need of the run. He's only run four times over fences and won a Grade 1 at Kempton last season so gets the nod.
Josses Hill (IRE) 8-13fav (11-9) Made all, jumped well, hard driven 2 out, stayed on strongly, won at Kempton 2m 4f (2) gd in Nov beating Camping Ground (11-9) by 8l, 2 ran.
Tea For Two 6-1 (11-12) Chased leader, joined leader 5 out, hard driven 2 out, hung left and weakened after last, 5th of 12, 8 1/2l behind Antony (10-1) at Ascot 3m hcp (1) gd in Oct.
More Of That (IRE) 7-2fav (11-9) Mid-division, under pressure 3 out, soon beaten, behind when pulled up before last, at Cheltenham 2m 4f hcp (1) sft in Nov.
Dodging Bullets 9-4fav (11-1) Tracked leaders until lost place and dropped to last at 8th, pulled up before 10th, at Ascot 2m 5f (1) gs in Nov.
Volnay De Thaix (FR) 7-1 (11-12) Not fluent 1st, chased leaders, every chance 3 out, went 2nd between last two, kept on under pressure run-in, always held, 2nd of 11, 1 1/4l behind Junction Fourteen (11-8) at Sandown 2m 4f hcp (2) gd in Apr.
Art Mauresque (FR) 25-1 (11-11) In touch, under pressure 3 out, weakened after next, 7th of 17, 16 1/4l behind Taquin Du Seuil (11-11) at Cheltenham 2m 4f hcp (1) sft in Nov.
Ratify 8-1 (11-10) Led, headed after 5th, remained close up, weakened before 2 out, 7th of 9, dist behind Azert De Coeur (10-12) at Chepstow 2m 3f hcp (4) gs in Nov.
