held up towards rear, headway after 4th to chase leaders, ridden approaching 2 out, gradually weakened
tracked winner, ridden approaching 2 out, kept on one pace
made all, ridden 2 out, kept on well
mid-division, ridden approaching 2 out, soon beaten
towards rear, some headway when bumped and stumbled approaching 3 out, soon ridden and beaten
always behind, lost touch and pulled up before 2 out
towards rear, headway approaching 2 out to chase leaders, soon ridden and one pace
mid-division, ridden after 3 out, soon one pace
tracked leaders, lost place approaching 3 out, soon ridden and weakened
Andre Chenier gets the nod here; with Lord Lington and Dream Castle feared most from the rest. Dream Castle made a successful raid on Sedgefield prize-money in June - comfortably scoring on good to firm ground. This more testing ground raises a few questions where he is concerned but he can be in the shake up if he puts his mind to the task in hand. Lord Lington won a seller at Hereford last time out and his confidence will have been boosted by that cosy victory. He has more on his plate today, but can exploit any weaknesses shown by the principle players. However, Andre Chenier has the ideal partner in Timmy Murphy and the six-year-old is fancied to confirm why his trainer has left him in to be claimed for ¿15,000. The ground is not an issue with the son of Perugino and, as a previous course and distance winner thrown in for good measure, the gelding is too hard to oppose in this company.
Andre Chenier (IRE) 17-2 (11-6) Behind, outpaced from 7th, 4th of 6, 25l behind Pay Attention (11-5) at Perth 2m chs (4) gd in May.
Sun King 14-1 (10-6) Held up, outpaced from 3 out, 7th of 12, 14l behind Lord Baskerville (11-3) at Aintree 2m hcp hdl 0-135 (3) gd in May.
Dream Castle (IRE) 20-1 (11-6) Led, clear early, clear again after 4 out, reduced lead before straight, strongly pressed and headed before 3 out, soon no extra, 9th of 13, 20l behind Piltown (11-4) at Killarney 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-130 gd in Jul.
Admiral Compton 20-1 (10-7) Chased leaders, ridden and weakened 3 out, 9th of 16, 23l behind Harcas (11-0) at Perth 2m mdn hdl (4) gd in Jul.
Ho Pang Yau 33-1 (10-12) Held up towards rear, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out, 9th of 13, 38l behind Wages (11-5) at Market Rasen 2m 1f sll hcp hdl 0-90 (5) gf in Jun '06.
Lord Lington (FR) 7-2jt-fav (10-5) Held up towards rear, headway after 4th, led approaching last, ridden out, won at Hereford 2m 1f sll hdl (5) gd in Jun beating Drive On (11-1) by 1 1/2l, 16 ran.
Magic Box 12-1 (10-13) Mid-division, ridden and lost place 7th, behind and pulled up 2 out in race won by Il Penseroso (10-10) at Perth 2m hcp chs 0-105 (4) gf in Jul '06, 10 ran.
Red Sun 20-1 (10-4) Held up towards rear headway after 3 out ridden and weakend next, 8th of 9, 22l behind Royal Glen (10-0) at Hexham 2m hcp chs 0-110 (4) gf in May.
