in touch, outpaced 4 out, ridden and stayed on from next, no impression
held up, outpaced 6th, soon well behind
mid-division, headway when mistake 4 out, ridden to chase winner next, soon weakened
tracked leaders, lost place 5th, headway 3 out, ridden and kept on same pace
made all, clear 3 out, eased flat
mid-division, lost place 4th, ridden and outpaced 6th, soon beaten
held up mid-division, headway 4 out, stayed on to go 2nd 2 out, ridden out, no chance with winner
in touch, weakened 4 out, pulled up before next
mid-division, lost place 4 out, behind when pulled up before next
chased winner before 3 out, soon weakened
always behind
held up, weakened approaching 3 out, pulled up before next
Jimmy Bond returns to hurdles looking to exploit a lower handicap mark and he duly gets the nod ahead of El Andaluz, Over To Joe and Cool Cossack. The selection had been running consistently well over the bigger obstacles, culminating in a win at Wetherby on Boxing Day. However he struggled next time out after a 7lb rise in the weights to 117, and racing off 82 today he must go very close indeed. Over To Joe won well here a fortnight ago, and the step up in trip today looks to hold no fears. However that win was in a poor seller and so he would have to improve to trouble the selection. Cool Cossack's fourth a fortnight ago was an admirable performance considering he was returning from an absence of 20 months and assuming that he comes on for that reappearance, he must hold major claims today. El Andaluz has been a runner-up on his last two runs and has place claims once again, however he may struggle today against some well-handicapped horses. Ultimately we will return to Jimmy Bond who looks thrown in off this vastly lower hurdles mark.
Cool Cossack (IRE) 25-1 (10-12) Led, ridden and headed approaching 3 out, weakened last, 4th of 13, 16l behind Allegedly So (10-12) at Newcastle 3m nov hdl (3) sft.
Zaffie Parson (IRE) 11-4 (10-11) Raced wide, in touch, lost place 9th, weakened 3 out, last of 6, 32l behind Top Cloud (10-9) at Sedgefield 3m 3f nov hdl (4) sft in Dec.
Go Johnny (IRE) 16-1 (10-9) Always behind, 11th of 18, more than 8l behind Fredensborg (11-0) at Wincanton 2m mdn hdl (4) sft.
Caesar's Palace (GER) 17-2 (11-10) Outpaced, behind from halfway, stayed on from 3 out, 6th of 20, 24l behind Em's Royalty (11-7) at Ayr 3m hcp hdl 0-95 (5) hvy.
El Andaluz (FR) 7-2fav (11-4) Led, ridden 2 out, mistake last, soon headed, no extra, 2nd of 19, 1 1/2l behind Negus de Beaumont (11-10) at Newcastle 3m hcp hdl 0-90 (5) gd in Nov.
Star Time (IRE) 20-1 (9-4) Behind, driven along from 5th, stayed on past beaten horses from 2 out, not reach leaders, 4th of 15, 15l behind Knighton Lad (11-9) at Newbury 3m cnd hcp hdl 0-110 (4) hvy.
Jimmy Bond 5-2 (10-11) Held up, headway approaching 9th, went 3rd after 4 out, jumped left next when weakening, 3rd of 5, 22l behind Roman Ark (11-9) at Haydock 2m 4f hcp chs 0-135 (3) hvy.
Double Ells 5-1 (10-11) Led to 7th, hit next, soon ridden and weakened, 6th of 11, 35l behind Presenting Alf (10-10) at Market Rasen 2m 3f cnd hcp hdl 0-95 (5) sft in Nov.
Obara d'Avril (FR) 28-1 (10-7) Always behind, 7th of 16, well behind Bywell Beau (10-11) at Kelso 2m mdn hdl (4) hvy in Dec.
Over To Joe 14-1 (10-0) Tracked leaders, outpaced 3 out, soon ridden, rallied next, stayed on to lead after last, held on flat, won at Newcastle 2m 4f cnd hcp hdl 0-95 (5) sft beating College City (11-3) by 1 1/2l, 10 ran.
Beau Peak 20-1 (9-11) Mid-division on inside, outpaced 3 out, soon weakened, 5th of 10, 37l behind Over To Joe (10-0) at Newcastle 2m 4f cnd hcp hdl 0-95 (5) sft.
Loscar (FR) 3-1 (10-6) With leaders, led approaching 3 out, 2 lengths up when fell 3 out in race won by Roadworthy (10-9) at Ayr 2m cnd hcp hdl (5) hvy in Dec, 15 ran.
