led until after 2nd, chased winner, hampered by loose horse 3rd and next, pushed along and lost 2nd 2 out, soon weakened, mistake last
held up in 4th, badly hampered by loose horse and left in 3rd place 1st, went 2nd briefly 3rd, pushed along and went 2nd 2 out, kept on same pace, no chance with winner
raced keenly, tracked leader, led after 2nd, jinked left approaching 2 out, soon straightened and clear
in 3rd until fell 1st
PALLADIUM lost a shoe at Warwick but was only beaten a short-head by Maskada, who went on to finish fourth in the Finale Hurdle at Chepstow. Any improvement on that would make him hard to beat. Hereia has to concede 6lb having won a Roscommon maiden in August, though he wasn’t disgraced on his first run for new connections at Cheltenham. Zarafshan stayed 1m4f on the Flat and is worth noting as he has more scope than Mr Chua and Brambledown.
Hereia (IRE) 33-1 (11-2) Chased leaders, mistake 3 out, weakened before last, 5th of 8, 15 1/2l behind Botox Has (11-2) at Cheltenham 2m 1f (2) sft in Dec.
Brambledown 7-2 (10-9) Raced wide keen held up, slipped bend after 1st, headway 3 out, ridden next, kept on same pace, 6th of 9, 9 1/4l behind Welland (11-4) at Fakenham 2m hcp (4) gd in Oct.
Palladium 11-10fav (10-12) Prominent, went 2nd 2 out, stayed on flat, closing towards finish, just held, 2nd of 15, shd behind Maskada (10-5) at Warwick 2m mdn (4) sft in Dec.
Zarafshan (IRE) 4-1 (9-5) Mid-division, ridden into 6th 3f out, no impression 2f out, kept on same pace inside final furlong, 4th of 15, 6 1/4l behind L'Empathie (9-0) at Listowel 1m 4f mdn sft in Sep.
Mr Chua (IRE) 10-1 (11-0) Tracked winner until ridden 3 out, soon outpaced, rallied and hampered next, plugged on, 3rd of 9, dist behind Goshen (11-5) at Sandown 2m (2) sft in Dec.
