held up in touch, tracked leaders 5th, joined leader 8th, badly hampered 12th, recovered well, soon tracking leaders, every chance when blundered last, soon ridden to lead all out
tracking leaders when fell 4th
led until approaching 4th, remained prominent, ridden to challenge after 3 out, weakened next
held-up in touch, headway 10th, left in lead 12th, blundered last, soon headed, no extra
tracked leaders, led approaching 4th, joined 8th, hung right approaching 10th, hung badly left, ran out 12th
The previous two races on this card will tell us a lot about Horward Johnson's form and therefore the chances of Cool Operator but without those the verdict goes the way of EXMOOR RANGER with The Vicar fancied to come back after disappointing on his seasonal reappearance. The selection was a decent and progressive hurdler with a rating of 123 it and looks like he'll make an even better chaser after scoring on his first attempt over the fences. He stayed on plenty that day after showing a good burst of speed to take things up with three to jump and with the second not disgraced in his next outing against Witchita Lineman and the third going on to score the form seems strong for him to make it two from two off levels terms with his main rival. That rival is Cool Operator who took a weak race over this trip at Sedgefield last time. His jumping was not brilliant, he took time to take to fences after a blunder at the first, but he won the race with plenty to spare. He's bound to improve for the experience but with none of the form standing up from that contest the vote has to go elsewhere. Henrietta Knight's The Vicar has more than just a prayer here as he was rated seven pounds higher than the selection over hurdles. That said divine intervention maybe needed after falling in his first attempt at the larger obstacles when in contention here last time out but he was travelling well and he may well have gone on to land the race had he not hit the deck. The only other two in the race are Paradise Gained, who showed ability on his chasing debut with the jockey not really testing him and Iron Hague, a fair hurdler going over the big jumps for the first time. It's a race full of interesting contenders with our interest going the way of Exmoor Ranger.
Cool Operator 9-4fav (11-5) Prominent, led 10th, clear 3 out, very easily, won at Sedgefield 2m 4f beg chs (4) gd in Sept beating Overbranch (10-12) by 14l, 8 ran.
Exmoor Ranger (IRE) 11-2 (11-5) Travelled well behind leaders, challenged approaching 2 out, ridden to lead before last, stayed on strongly, won at Exeter 3m beg chs (4) gs in Oct beating Kornati Kid (11-5) by 5l, 11 ran.
Iron Hague (IRE) 22-1 (11-0) Tracked leaders, ridden 6th, weakened next, 10th of 15, 27l behind King's Majesty (11-3) at Fakenham 2m hcp hdl 0-105 (4) gd in Oct.
Paradise Regained (FR) 50-1 (11-3) Took keen hold, held up in last, headway approaching 4 out, weakened approaching last, 4th of 12, 15l behind Crescent Island (11-3) at Stratford 2m 4f beg chs (4) gd in Oct.
The Vicar (IRE) 15-2 (11-2) Close up, ridden to chase winner 3 out, 2nd and looked held when unseated rider 5 out in race won by Tartak (11-8) at Huntingdon 2m 4f nov chs (3) gs, 8 ran.
