chased leaders in 4th until dropped to rear 5th, soon lost touch, tailed off
held up in touch, headway on outside to chase winner approaching 2 out, well held when hit last , lost 2nd on long run from last
made all, in command 2 out, stayed on strongly, unchallenged
stumbled 1st, always behind, struggling 4 out, tailed off
always in rear, mistake 3rd, weakened and eased from 3 out, tailed off
chased winner until before 2 out, rallied to regain well held 2nd on long run from last, no chance with winner
chased leading pair, went 2nd briefly before 2 out, weakened before last
held up in rear, stayed on from 2 out where mistake, well held in 3rd when mistake last
INVISIBLE MAN should be good enough to pick up the spoils from Kew Jumper although support for Meneur would be of interest. The last named is one of two runners from Gary Moore's yard and neither can be comfortably ruled out but Sole Agent has struggled this season and it would be no surprise to see the unexposed Meneur emerge as the bigger threat on his return to action. Kew Jumper has more obvious claims although he may not be able to reproduce his best form on ground as testing as this whilst William Bonney just doesn't win often enough to be recommended. Pret A Thou impressed at Warwick but has never been noted for his consistency whilst Only Dreams has been off since disappointing at the same venue and the one runner with a little scope in this field is Invisible Man. The yard's horses are running well and the selection faces a far easier task on this occasion than he did when fourth at Warwick in a decent novices' chase. The way that he weakened on that occasion is a concern but it can pay to forgive him that in this weaker race and Invisible Man is taken to open his account.
William Bonney (IRE) 20-1 (9-11) Always in rear, struggling 3 out, tailed off, 13th of 16, 32l behind Arctic Magic (10-2) at Cheltenham 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-120 (2) sft in Jan.
Kew Jumper (IRE) 6-1 (10-11) Mid-division, jumped left and blundered 1st, rider lost iron until after 3rd, beaten when mistake 3 out, pulled up before last, in a race won by Nudge And Nurdle (10-8) at Sandown 2m 4f hcp chs 0-135 (3) gd in Nov, 11 ran.
Pret A Thou (FR) 10-3 (11-5) Sweating, made all, drew clear from 8th, not fluent 3 out or 2 out, eased towards finish, won at Warwick 2m hcp ch 0-110 (4) sft in Jan beating Carrickmines (11-0) by 8l, 5 ran.
Invisible Man (FR) 10-3 (10-9) Tracked leader, led 6th, headed 2 out, weakened last, 4th of 6, 14l behind Leo's Lucky Star (11-0) at Warwick 2m beg chs (4) sft in Dec.
Meneur (FR) (10-12) 5th of 16, 14l behind Le Haut Anjou (10-3) at Fontainebleau(FR) 2m 4f 5yo hdl sft in Mar '08.
Sole Agent (IRE) 9-4fav (11-7) Chased leader, led 3rd to next, led 7th to 8th, weakened approaching 3 out, 4th of 5, 30l behind One Cornetto (10-4) at Lingfield 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) hvy in Jan.
Only Dreams (IRE) 33-1 (10-1) Held up in rear, headway 7th, weakened after 3 out, 12th of 13, 38l behind Russian Flag (11-5) at Warwick 2m hcp chs 0-120 (3) sft in Dec.
Turbo Shandy 16-1 (11-5) Held up in rear, good headway from 6th, challenging leader when slipped on landing and unseated rider 4 out, in a race won by Orana Conti (11-3) at Leicester 2m nov hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Dec, 10 ran.
