jumped well, made all, came clear from before 8th (water), unchallenged
ran bit in snatches, raced in 3rd and 4th, went 2nd 3 out, stayed on same pace, never any chance with winner
held up tracking leaders, went 2nd at 4th, jumped slowly 9th, no chance with winner when lost 2nd 3 out, ridden and beaten before next
tracked winner until 4th, chased leaders, dropped to rear at 11th, weakened next, tailed off
A drop back in trip should suit Presentandcounting as he travelled best for much of the way over 3m off this mark in June but fellow course and distance winner GOLDEN TAIPAN gets a handy 7lb and may just edge this. Hidden Commander certainly isn’t out of this off bottom weight but Samurai Cracker is on a long losing run and hasn’t raced since beaten in an Irish point in April.
Presentandcounting (IRE) 9-4 (11-10) Jumped left at times, led, pressed 2 out, headed before last, no impression on winner flat, 2nd of 5, 5l behind Saint Arvans (11-0) at Perth 3m hcp (3) gd in Jun.
Golden Taipan (IRE) 11-2 (11-13) Held up in touch, not fluent 3rd, pushed along and outpaced 4 out, headway under pressure behind leaders last, stayed on strongly flat, just held close home, 2nd of 5, 1/2l behind Cedar Hill (11-5) at Perth 2m 4f hcp (3) gs in Jun.
Samurai Cracker (IRE) 4-1 (12-2) Rcd 2nd, 3rd 1/2way, cl 3rd 3out, prog to ld aftr 2out, rdn appr last & sn hdd, no ex run-in, 2nd of 7, 4 1/2l behind Saint D'Oroux (12-2) at Loughanmore 3m sft in Apr.
Hidden Commander (IRE) 13-2 (11-4) Led until not fluent 7th, ridden and edged right before 3 out, no impression 2 out, left 3rd briefly last, weakened flat, 4th of 5, 18l behind Courtland (11-12) at Market Rasen 2m 5f hcp (3) gd in Jul.
