led to 7th, weakening when hit 12th
tracked leaders in 3rd, lost place and blundered 5th, chased winner from 3 out, every chance from next, no extra towards finish
tracked leader, jumped right throughtout, mistake 1st, led 7th, under pressure from 2 out, not fluent and jumped right last, stayed on gamely all out
HINTON THUNDERBOLT ran well enough on his chasing debut to rate a strong fancy here ahead of Lupanar and Song Sung Blue. The lightly-raced eight-year-old won two of his four starts over hurdles achieving a rating of 130 in the process, and if he's able to translate that to the larger obstacles then a race like this should be well within his compass. A first-time second did little to change that view and normal improvement should see this Venetia Williams-trained runner very hard to beat here. If there is to be an upset, perhaps Lupanar is most likely to provide it. Gary Moore's charge wasn't far behind our pick over hurdles and has jumped reasonably well in two unsuccessful chase starts. Neither particularly inspires but he should be capable of improvement and in a small field like this he has to be given a chance, and should be good enough to hold chasing debutant Song Sung Blue. This son of Supreme Leader should make a chaser but remains a maiden under rules following some frustrating performances over the smaller obstacles, and a rating of 115 leaves him with plenty to find so he looks opposable on his first try. Petito was pulled up on Saturday in a better race and looks very hard to fancy even on his best form, so with doubts about his three rivals Hinton Thunderbolt should score with something in hand.
Hinton Thunderbolt 6-1 (11-0) Led, blundered 6 out, headed 4 out, one pace from last, 2nd of 7, 8l behind Ernst Blofeld (11-0) at Uttoxeter 2m 4f beg chs (4) sft in Dec.
Lupanar (IRE) 16-1 (11-9) Tracked leaders, mistake 6th and 7th, soon ridden and weakened, blundered and all but down 3 out, 5th of 6, 43l behind Victorias Groom (11-10) at Lingfield 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-130 (3) hvy in Dec.
Song Sung Blue (IRE) 11-10fav (10-12) Close up, tracked winner 2nd, every chance when not fluent last, hung left flat, no impression, 2nd of 11, 4l behind San Marino (10-5) at Exeter 2m 1f nh nov hdl (4) sft in Nov.
Petito (IRE) 100-1 (11-0) Jumped poorly, soon well detached, tailed off 5th, soon pulled up, in a race won by Mad Max (11-0) at Kempton 2m nov chs (2) sft, 5 ran.
