took keen hold, held up 5th, hit 3rd, hit 10th, left 3rd at 11th, chased winner 3 out, ridden after next, one pace and no impression from last
tracked leading pair, tracked leader before 7th, left in narrow lead and hampered 11th, mistake and headed 12th, blundered 3 out, soon lost 2nd, no impression before next, hung left and stayed on again flat
led until narrowly headed 4th, chased leader until before 7th, left 2nd and slightly hampered 11th, led 12th, driven after 2 out, stayed on well flat
chased leading trio, not fluent 10th, hampered next, close up and disputing 3rd when blundered 4 out, weakened from 2 out
chased leader, led 4th, blundered and fell 11th
Hopes are high that SPIRIT RIVER can reach the top over fences and it looks significant that he's been asked to make his debut in a race that his trainer has won four times in ten years with horses as good as Punchestowns and Bacchanal. Celestial Halo was by far the better hurdler of the pair and had jumped satisfactorily on his chase bow prior to departure but there's no guarantee that he'll be able to hit the same heights over fences. It would be surprising were the winner to come from outside that pair even though On Borrowed Wings and Cois Farraig have already shown some aptitude for this game.
On Borrowed Wings (IRE) 6-4fav (10-12) Held up in rear, headway approaching 2 out, 3rd and closing when not fluent and left 2nd last, driven ahead towards finish, won at Stratford 2m 4f nov chs (3) gd in Oct beating Ikorodu Road (10-12) by 1 1/4l, 7 ran.
Celestial Halo (IRE) 1-4fav (11-2) Tracked leaders in 3rd, switched to outer approaching 5th, with leader from 6th, led after 8th, going well when fell 4 out, in a race won by Diamond Brook (11-2) at Exeter 2m 1f beg chs (3) gd in Oct, 5 ran.
Cois Farraig 8-1 (11-3) Led, strongly challenged 3 out, headed approaching next, soon weakened, 3rd of 7, 18l behind Radium (11-3) at Ascot 2m 3f beg chs (3) gd in Oct.
Erzen (IRE) 22-1 (11-0) Held up in mid-division, ridden and outpaced after 4 out, 8th of 21, 22l behind Picture This (10-7) at Haydock 3m 1f hcp hdl (2) gd in May.
Spirit River (FR) 14-1 (11-2) Tracked leaders, hit 4 out, headway to challenge 2 out, led before last, ridden and kept on flat, won at Cheltenham 2m 5f hcp hdl Grade 3 (1) gd in Mar beating Tullamore Dew (10-10) by 4 1/2l, 28 ran.
