held up towards rear, headway approaching 8th, weakened after 3 out
led and keen, headed after 2nd, led again 5th, made rest, always in command from 3 out, hard held
tracked leaders in 3rd, chased winner briefly 3 out, weakened next
held up towards rear and keen, not fluent 3rd, headway approaching 3 out, chased winner 2 out until approaching last, no extra
led after 2nd and keen, headed 5th, hit and weakened from 3 out
held up in rear, outpaced and pushed along after 4 out, headway approaching 3 out, ridden to chase winner approaching last, no impression
Nicky Henderson has some useful youngsters and Cavite Beta who ran in a tougher looking Grade 2 last time out looks in with a solid chance in this race but we side with the option from another top yard here. SPOCK runs for Paul Nicholls and having won a maiden hurdle at Worcester last month he could be the one to beat with that experience to build upon. Gortenbuie could be the joker in the pack having shown some promise with a second on bumper debut at Uttoxeter a year ago and his trainer has given him plenty of schooling time. Mashdood has shown little ability on the flat and a switch to hurdles isn't guaranteed to help. Although Ultimate Quest has won a couple of flat races and is rated 68 on the level he is avoidable on jumps debut, whilst Kilvoydansouth who has won a point-to-point earlier in his career has not raced in any circles since May 2009 and is scratched from calculations.
Spock (FR) 15-2 (11-0) Held up towards rear, took keen hold, headway 6th, challenged and green from 3 out, led and edged right approaching 2 out where not fluent, veered right and headed after last, soon led again, ran on well, won at Worcester 2m 4f mdn hdl (4) gd in Oct beating Alnwick (11-0) by 1 1/4l, 13 ran.
Cavite Beta (IRE) 8-1 (11-0) Held up towards rear and keen, headway 5 out, in 5th and weakened approaching 4 out, 6th of 8, 42l behind Silviniaco Conti (11-7) at Chepstow 2m 4f nov hdl G2 (1) sft in Oct.
Gortenbuie (IRE) 3-1 (11-0) Held up, headway over 3f out, chased winner over 2f out, no impression, 2nd of 7, 5l behind Laureldean River (11-0) at Uttoxeter 2m NH flat (6) hvy in Nov '09.
Kilvoydansouth (IRE) 33-1 (11-7) Mid-division, weakened over 4f out, 18th of 23, well behind Lastoftheleaders (11-7) at Punchestown 2m 2f N H flat hvy in May '09.
Mashdood (USA) 100-1 (9-1) Prominent, ridden 3f out, hung left and weakened over 2f out, 13th of 18, 20l behind Ashbrittle (9-10) at Doncaster 1m 7f hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Oct (flat).
Ultimate Quest (IRE) 6-4fav (9-9) Tracked leaders, ridden to lead 4f out when emerged from fog, headed over 2f out, kept on one pace, 3rd of 9, 14l behind Saborido (9-8) at Bath 2m 1f hcp 0-75 (5) gf in Sep (flat).
