held up towards rear, weakened approaching 3 out, tailed off
not fluent, held up towards rear, headway 5th, ridden after 7th, mistake 3 out, stumbled last, stayed on same pace flat, just failed to get 2nd
not fluent early, held up, always towards rear, never dangerous
took keen hold, chased leaders, pushed along 6th, not fluent next, mistake 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out
chased leader who was clear until 4th, challenged 7th, led before next, clear when mistake 2 out, easily
held up in 4th, went 3rd after 3rd, went 2nd approaching 2 out, no chance with winner, just held on for 2nd
led, clear until 4th, joined 7th, headed before next, weakening when mistake 2 out
pulled hard in rear, ridden and weakened 7th, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out
This Novice hurdle should go the way of Paul Nicholls' LIKE MINDED whose fourth place in Aintree's Champion Bumper reads really well in the context of this race with Henry Hook looking to have plenty to find based on his sole bumper start while Quartano sets the standard of those with jumping experience. The selection joined this powerful yard after scoring on his debut ahead of a couple of subsequent winners and stepped up on that form with that result at Aintree. This stable are bound to have him well schooled and if running up to that bumper form he should take all the beating. Henry Hook got up over course and distance in a in National Hunt Flat race on his only start to date. The form from that race looks very weak so a marked improvement will be needed. Quartano sets a useful standard with a few decent efforts in some top novice and maiden events and could spoil the party while Pak Jak is closely matched with the one we've just mentioned and should go better now switched back to hurdles from chasing. This isn't going to be as straight forward as the betting forecast suggests but Like Minded should still be the one in front.
A Bid Too Far (IRE) 25-1 (11-3) Tracked leaders and keen, lost place 6th, 13th of 15, well behind Hey Big Spender (11-3) at Chepstow 2m 4f mdn hdl (4) sft in Feb.
Aim For The Stars 12-1 (11-0) Mid-division, blundered and hampered 6th, pulled up soon after, in a race won by The Treacle Eater (11-0) at Hereford 2m 4f mdn hdl (4) gd in Apr, 16 ran.
Chosen Native (IRE) Evens (11-7) Alw pr, mstk 5out & sn 5th, prog to 2nd 3out, rnd to ld bef last, row, won at Loughbrickland 3m ire ptp in Mar beating Playing The Field (11-7) by 2l, 12 ran.
Henry Hook (IRE) 7-1 (11-4) Led until over 7f out, outpaced over 3f out, stayed on strongly final furlong, led near finish, won at Kempton 2m mdn NH flat (6) gd in Apr beating Very Edgy (11-4) by nk, 15 ran.
Like Minded 10-1 (11-4) Held up behind, headway over 3f out, one pace from over 2f out, 4th of 19, 7l behind Sitting Tennant (11-4) at Aintree 2m 1f nat hunt flat Grade 2 (1) gs in Apr.
Pak Jack (FR) 20-1 (10-6) Held up in rear, some headway 14th, soon weakened, no chance when pulled up before 2 out, in a race won by Russian Around (10-9) at Uttoxeter 3m hcp chs (2) gd in May, 17 ran.
The Jolly Spoofer (IRE) 7-1 (11-6) Prominent, jumped slowly 4th, lost place 5th, reminders and dropped rear after 6th, well behind 9th, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by Keepitsecret (11-4) at Stratford 2m 4f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gf in Jun, 8 ran.
Silver Phoenix 14-1 (10-12) Held up towards rear, made some moderate headway, 6th of 12, 44l behind Line Freedom (10-7) at Cheltenham 2m 1f N H flat (4) gd in Apr.
Quartano (GER) 4-6fav (11-0) Chased leading pair, driven and one pace when pecked 3 out, driven and kept on run in, took 2nd last strides but no chance with winner, 2nd of 7, 7l behind Fix The Rib (11-0) at Folkestone 2m mdn chs (4) gd in Jan.
