led, ridden and headed home turn when stumbled badly on bend, chased leader thereafter but never made any impression
chased leader, left in lead home turn, increased tempo 2 out, clear last, ridden out run-in
held up, jumped left 7th and 9th, struggling home turn, tailed off
NonRunner
Nero Rock led until two out in a higher grade at Kelso at the start of the month and will strip fitter today. Mortlach was second over hurdles at the same meeting but has won four times over fences this year and may not have stopped improving yet. MINELLA PLUS easily landed the odds at Hexham and has most scope of these so gets the nod.
Mortlach 10-11fav (11-12) Led, went clear bypassing omitted 6th, ridden and headed bypassing last, stayed on same pace, 2nd of 7, 1 1/4l behind Serious Operator (11-0) at Kelso 2m 5f (4) gd in Oct.
Minella Plus (IRE) 1-2fav (11-8) Chased leader, led after 4 out, clear after 2 out, comfortably, won at Hexham 2m hcp (4) gs in Sep beating Diamond State (11-2) by 8l, 3 ran.
Nyoufsea 100-1 (11-2) Always last, bit closer at 6th, pushed along and outpaced before 4 out, tailing off when pulled up before next, at Worcester 2m 4f (3) gd in Jun.
Nero Rock (IRE) 8-1 (10-7) Led 1st, joined 2 out, ridden and headed before last, ridden and no chance with winner, weakened into 3rd final 150 yards, 3rd of 4, 4 3/4l behind Gold Des Bois (10-2) at Kelso 2m 1f hcp (2) gd in Oct.
