chased winner, mistake and lost place 8th, soon weakened
chased leaders, ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened
made all, clear 3 out, easily
held up in rear, shaken up approaching last, ran on flat, no chance with winner
An uncompetitive contest in which Jericho III is given a chance to atone for his disappointing debut effort over fences when falling at Taunton in November. Nicky Henderson's charge admittedly didn't look a natural over the larger obstacles on that occasion making several mistakes but was by far the best of these over timber and is sure to have been well schooled since so is handed the vote. Granted a clear round, the only serious threat to the selection is chasing debutant Free Return who comes here in good form having landed two of his last three starts over timber.