held up in mid-division, headway to track leaders from 5th, hard ridden and weakened from 2 out
tracked leader until mistake 3 out, weakened quickly, tailed off when pulled up before last
held up in mid-division, hard ridden and behind from 5th
made all, hard pressed from 2 out, joined last, driven and kept on gamely run in
always in rear
held up towards rear, headway after 3 out, joined winner and upsides last, not quicken and held run in
jumped poorly and always in rear
held up and behind, headway approaching 2 out, weakened run in
tracking leaders when jinked and ran out soon after 3 out
tracked leaders, chased winner from 3 out, close up and ridden when refused next
behind, ridden after 3 out, one pace when mistake last
in touch, weakened after 3 out, pulled up after 2 out
pulled hard, always behind, pulled up before 2 out
close up, outpaced after 3 out, stayed on under pressure to take 3rd last
held up in mid-division, headway 5th, close up 3 out, weakened under pressure before next
held up in rear, never near leaders
A potentially informative juvenile novices' hurdle gets proceedings underway at Sandown with the likes of interesting debutantes Prince Holing and Numitas plus the more experienced Sunway, Tusk and Major Speculation passed over in favour of Kjetil. The selection looked as though he would improve for the outing when an eight-length fifth behind Dickens over course and distance last month. The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding, a middle distance winner on the flat in his native France, was just behind Henrietta Knight's Tusk (a winner at Kempton since) that day and, with improvement anticipated, is expected to reverse that form. Jonjo O'Neill's Cherub made a promising hurdling debut behind Tusk at Kempton and is another worthy of a mention. Francois Doumen's runners here always warrant respect and it would be no surprise to see Moulin Riche play a part in the finish, while the ex-Sir Mark Prescott trained Numitas, who is now in the care of Philip Hobbs, makes most appeal among the newcomers. However, he may want further to show his best form and preference is for Kjetil.
