soon struggling in rear, tailed off when pulled up after 9th
tracked leader, blundered 4th, lost 2nd at 9th, mistake next, continued in distant 3rd
tracked leaders, went 2nd at 9th, led 10th, made rest, kept on strongly
jumped right, led, reminders after 9th, headed next, no chance with winner from 3 out
held up, 4th when blundered and fell 5th
blundered and rider lost irons 1st, pulled up
French import New Little Bric could be anything but gets the nod over Shapiro and Nonantis in this beginners chase where none of the rest stand out as potential improvers. Nonantis has already had several chances over fences but has not really looked a natural chaser. However, he can be a force at this level and should make it interesting for the battle for place money. Shapiro will never be a star at Jonjo O'Neill's camp but does have a modicum of ability. He should have learned from his chasing debut at Bangor and can be considered a threat in this company. However, New Little Bric - a well related French-bred - obviously caught the eye of the Nichols spies across the English Channel and looks to have been found a soft introduction to racing in the UK. Cut in the ground should not be an issue and the champion trainer appears to hold all the aces with his representative here.
Kiltimoney (IRE) 25-1 (11-2) Chased leader to 6f out, soon ridden and weakened 3f out, 5th of 10, 16l behind Tisseman (11-2) at Plumptongd in Apr.
New Little Bric (FR) (10-12) won at Pau 2m 1f NH flat in Jan beating Mount Etna (10-3) by 10l, 16 ran.
Nonantais (FR) 25-1 (10-8) In touch, ridden 8th, soon weakened, 11th of 14, well behind Dom d'Orgeval (11-12) at Uttoxeter 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-140 (2) hvy in Feb.
Schapiro (USA) 28-1 (11-0) Held up towards rear, not fluent 1st, effort approaching 3 out, no impression, 5th of 12, 13l behind Mr Pointment (11-0) at Bangor 2m 4f beg chs (4) gd.
