made all, clear 10th, unchallenged
took keen hold, not fluent 1st, tracked winner from 4th, no impression from 10th
sometimes jumped right, tracked winner until 4th, blundered and lost ground on rivals 10th, ridden approaching 4 out, well beaten after 3 out
NOTUS DE LA TOUR looks a cut above today's rivals. A useful hurdler, he got off the mark over fences at the first time of asking when scoring at Carlisle last month and will be a short-price to go in again. Megastar wasn't far behind the selection over timber but he was less than fluent on his recent chasing bow at Ascot and will need to improve his jumping to come out best here. Dona and Kind Of Easy look to have plenty to find on their first starts over fences.
Notus De La Tour (FR) 1-2fav (11-3) Made all, clear from 8th, eased last 100 yards, won at Carlisle 2m 4f nov chs (4) gs in Oct beating Stopped Out (11-3) by 7l, 6 ran.
Dona 66-1 (10-4) Always towards rear, 15th of 24, 39l behind Alarazi (10-3) at Sandown 2m lst hcp hdl (0-150) (1) gd in Mar.
Megastar 13-8 (11-3) Took keen hold, held up in 3rd, blundered and nearly unseated rider 11th, given time to recover, closing when went right and jumped into rear of 2nd horse 2 out, ridden and no impression before last, eased when beaten flat, last of 3, 13l behind Micheal Flips (11-3) at Ascot 2m 3f beg chs (3) gd in Oct.
Kind Of Easy (IRE) 8-1 (11-4) Tracked leaders, led approaching 4th, headed 4 out, rallied 2 out, weakened last, 2nd of 14, 6l behind Golden Chieftain (11-11) at Exeter 2m 3f nov hdl (4) sft in Feb.
