took keen hold, tracked clear leader, closed 5th, brought down 7th
raced keenly, led and clear after 4th, steadied 5th, ploughed into and fell heavily 7th
settled in 3rd, left alone 7th, cantered round
last and soon detached, went badly left 4th, gave up and pulled before next
Jonjo O'Neill won this last year and has live claims again with Mohayer, whose three career successes have come on testing ground. The trouble is he has fallen on two of his three starts over fences and looked to have plenty in his favour last time before flattering to deceive, which he did once or twice over hurdles too. With that in mind we have this between Pascha Bere and LORD SINGER, with the latter narrowly preferred. There's little argument that Pascha Bere was the best of these over hurdles but he's a much better horse on a sound surface and will be making his debut over fences, while there's also the questionmark over whether blinkers will have the desired effect. In contrast Gary Moore's horse is a confirmed soft-ground performer who should relish going left-handed with a solid second to Pepe Simo over fences to call upon.
Fiftyonefiftyone (IRE) 33-1 (11-3) Prominent, pushed along 4 out, soon lost place, last of 7, well behind Radium (11-3) at Ascot 2m 3f beg chs (3) gd in Oct.
Lord Singer (FR) 13-2 (11-1) Led after 1st, jumped left throughout, hard ridden and strongly challenged after 2 out, headed last, no extra, 2nd of 4, 4 1/2l behind Pepe Simo (11-1) at Sandown 2m beg chs (3) gd.
Mohayer (IRE) 9-2 (10-13) Held up towards rear, ridden and headway 2 out, one pace from last, 4th of 9, 4 1/2l behind Sonowyouno (11-2) at Carlisle 2m nov chs (4) hvy.
Sacrilege 4-1 (10-7) In rear, jumped slowly, gave up after 4th and pulled up, in a race won by Dunaskin (11-4) at Cartmel 2m 1f sell hdl (5) gd in May, 9 ran.
Pascha Bere (FR) 8-1 (10-10) Prominent, led approaching 2 out, soon hard driven, headed last, no extra, 3rd of 11, 2 1/4l behind Tocca Ferro (10-2) at Ascot 2m Listed hcp hdl (1) gd in Oct.
