in touch, headway 3 out, soon chasing leaders, every chance 2 out, weakened approaching next
tracked leader, led after 2 out, jumped right last, ran on
held up, not fluent 6th, headway 3 out, weakened before next
held up in touch when fell 3 out
led, ridden and headed after 2 out, no extra
High class Monkerhostin may be popular on his reappearance but Phillip Hobbs' gelding will do very well to give weight away to all of his rivals, and the vote goes to Paul Nicholls' Thisthatandtother ahead of the highly promising Racing Demon. Now ten years old, the selection has run well on his seasonal reappearances before, and if fully wound up today this proven performer can record another victory off bottom weight. When last seen, he was a length down and staying on well when falling three out at Cheltenham and would have gone very close, and if avoiding that sort of uncharacteristic error, he should be there at the finish. The talented Monkerhostin ended last season with two average performances after a decent performance in the Gold Cup where he would of gone closer but for a bad blunder early on, and whilst the debate still goes on over his stamina, he is back over a proven trip today and as he does go well fresh, he is the main danger to the selection. Henrietta Knight won this race with Impek last year, and has been very cautious with Racing Demon's engagements however she couldn't have foreseen his uncharacteristic error when favourite at Exeter on his seasonal reappearance. However Henrietta has obviously instilled some stable solidarity as the horse continued without a rider and jumped into Phillip Hobbs' Chilling Place bringing it down when that horse looked to be a big danger to Racing Demon's stablemate Impek who went on to win. If showing such determination today, the talented gelding could go very well indeed. Dempsey would have a chance but is unproven over the trip and so can not be truly fancied, whilst Paul Webber's Full House appears to be out of his depth. In a small but very competitive Peterborough Chase, Thisthatandtother is the tentative selection.
Monkerhostin (FR) 13-2 (11-10) Held up in touch, joined leaders 8th, ridden 10th, mistake 11th, chasing leaders when mistake 13th, weakened next, 3rd of 7, 23l behind Our Vic (11-1) at Cheltenham 2m 5f hcp chs Grd 2 (1) gd in Apr.
Racing Demon (IRE) 3-1fav (11-6) Held up, blundered and unseated rider at the 4th in race won by Impek (11-10) at Exeter 2m 1f hcp chs Grd 2 (1) gd in Oct, 9 ran.
Dempsey (IRE) 5-1 (11-2) Held up, blundered badly and unseated rider at the 3rd in race won by Impek (11-10) at Exeter 2m 1f hcp chs Grd 2 (1) gd in Oct, 9 ran.
Full House (IRE) 15-2 (11-9) Behind when pulled up at the 5th in race won by Yes Sir (10-10) at Market Rasen 2m 6f lst hcp chs (1) gf in Jul, 14 ran.
Thisthatandtother (IRE) 15-2 (11-11) In touch, close up when fell 3 out in race won by Sir Oj (10-0) at Cheltenham 2m 5f hcp chs Grd 3 (A) gs in Dec, 16 ran.
