led until blundered and headed 4th, mistake next, driven along from 6th, lost 2nd after 9th, beaten when blundered 3 out, tailed off
chased leader, led 4th, mistake 4 out, ridden and headed 3 out, soon no chance with winner
settled behind leading pair, closed from 8, tracked leader after 9th, led on bit 3 out, soon clear, unchallenged
The connections of Venn Ottery may be flying high with their Champion Chase aspirations for their charge but they do look to have been found a fair opportunity to cover some of their ante post outlay today; despite the fact that the gelding picks up 7lb extra for winning at Ludlow just over a week ago. Davoski is probably a light of better days and is opposed with Abalvino as the one expected to pose the biggest problems for the selection. The Paul Webber-trained gelding goes well at this course and is back on a winning mark after finding himself in the grip of the handicapper over the last year. His win in this race from last February reads well in the context of today's renewal and he will surely exploit any defects in his rivals should they appear today. However, Venn Ottery has been a revelation since he switched to the Paul Nicholls yard and he is fancied to make the most a bold attempt to land the hat-trick here. Venn Ottery has been clobbered with a significant rise in the weights but he still looks to be open to plenty of improvement from a mark of just 110. Even so, Venn Ottery will need to score convincingly to justify his entry against the best two-milers around if he lines up at Cheltenham a week on Wednesday after this.
