led until after 3rd, led again 5th, ridden and headed last, no extra
held up, patiently ridden, smooth headway 2 out, led last, pushed out
tracked leader, ridden and effort 3 out, every chance approaching last, kept on same pace
held up, headway 3 out, soon ridden, one pace from next
chased leaders, led after 3rd, ridden and headed 5th, soon weakened
tracked leaders, effort 3 out, mistake next, soon weakened
Tigers Lair has Zonergem to beat in what looks a two-horse race on paper, with German raider Tecaya best of the remainder. With Tony McCoy in the plate, Tigers Lair has a good opportunity of adding to his success of a fortnight ago at Aintree where he dominated from the front despite one or two sketchy jumps. We can forgive him that as it was only his second outing over hurdles, and as he had previous Wetherby winner Debbie comfortably held in second, Jonjo O¿ Neill's inmate can be considered capable of improvement. He comes up against former quirky Flat horse Zonergem who loved it round here when scoring under Tom Greenall last week. He has got bags of ability but a mind of his own, so maybe a prolonged spell over timber will be the making of him. He was in fact going to run in the Chester Cup but the ground came up too soft, and he could still take in a decent long-distance event on the level this summer, something like the Ascot Stakes perhaps? In the meantime he can give Tigers Lair most to do here, with Tecaya the only other to make appeal. A prolific middle-distance winner on the Flat in her native land, Christian Von Der Recke's mare has the assistance of Mick Fitzgerald, but may be taken off her feet on the ground. For the final winner of the night, we row in with Tigers Lair.
