chased leader in 2nd, ridden entering straight, no extra approaching last, kept on same pace
chased leaders in 3rd, mistake 3rd, pushed along 2 out, ridden and no impression before last, kept on same pace
made all, ridden to assert approaching last, kept on strongly run-in, comfortably
always behind, lost touch 4 out, completely tailed off
Akatara is well out of this as the remaining trio have all been successful at Grade 1 level and should be vying for top honours this campaign. Oscars Well beat Zaidapour in the Deloitte Novices' Hurdle at Leopardstown in February before a superb run at Cheltenham where a last-flight mistake didn't help. He will be better for a recent run but so will Pittoni, last year's Spring Juvenile Hurdle winner who slammed Donnas Palm in testing conditions at Naas last month. THOUSAND STARS has lived in the shadow of stablemate Hurricane Fly for such a long time but emerged as a Grade 1 winner in his own right at Auteuil in June. It's time for him to emerge as a serious Champion Hurdle hope and this should be a step in the right direction.
Oscars Well (IRE) 15-8 (11-10) Settled in 4th, headway to challenge 3 out, led soon after 2 out, ridden and headed last, no extra run-in, 3rd of 5, 4l behind The Real Article (11-8) at Down Royal 2m hdl G2 (1) sft.
Pittoni (IRE) 4-6fav (11-12) Tracked leaders in 4th, 3rd after 5th, improved to challenge 2 out, soon led, asserted before last, easily, won at Naas 2m 3f hdl in Oct beating Donnas Palm (11-12) by 12l, 6 ran.
Thousand Stars (FR) (10-7) won at Auteuil(FR) 3m 1f hdl G1 (1) sft in Jun beating Bel La Vie (10-3) by 1 1/2l, 10 ran.
Akatara (IRE) 5-2 (11-0) Tracked leader in 2nd, driven along in 3rd entering straight, no impression from 2 out, kept on one pace, 3rd of 12, 11l behind Lyreen Legend (11-7) at Naas 2m 4yo mdn hdl hvy in Oct.
