jumped well, tracked leader, led 16th, drew clear approaching 2 out, stayed on strongly
tracked leaders, left chasing winner 16th, hit 18th, lost 2nd well before 2 out, weakened soon after
held up last, left 3rd at 16th, chased winner well before 2 out, no impression
led until blundered 16th, dropped to 4th and no chance after
tracked leaders, blundered badly 17th, pulled up soon after, not recover
Turko got no further than the first fence on his reappearance in Wetherby's Charlie Hall Chase after which he was found to be lame and it may be that the Paul Nicholls-trained gelding is best watched today, with preference for Ungaro who gets the vote over Hard Act To Follow. The last mentioned showed decent form over hurdles and carried that over to fences on his return when making a winning debut over the larger obstacles in decisive fashion at Wetherby. This represents a step up in class over fences today for Howard Johnson's gelding but he did race in decent company over timber and he has to be respected. Henrietta Knight's Glasker Mill had to work hard to win his race at Cheltenham last time and he may find this tougher, especially on the softer surface. The Venetia Williams-trained Fair Question was well beaten on his return and may do better switched back to fences today but is hard to back with confidence and a safer bet looks to be Ungaro. Keith Reveley's gelding finished in front of Fair Question in that hurdles race and looks the one to beat judged by his earlier close third behind L'Antartique at Carlisle.
Turko (FR) 9-1 (11-5) Lame and pulled up at the 2nd in race won by Ollie Magern (11-0) at Wetherby 3m 1f chs Grd 2 (1) gf in Nov, 7 ran.
Ungaro (FR) 10-1 (10-4) Held up, blundered 10th, headway 4 out, one pace from 2 out, 6th of 18, 10l behind Millenium Royal (11-12) at Haydock 2m 7f hcp hdl (2) gs in Nov.
Glasker Mill (IRE) 11-2 (11-0) Held up and behind, went 4th 10th, awkward jump 3 out, stayed on well approaching last, went 2nd flat, led final strides, won at Cheltenham 3m Grad Ch (2) gd in Nov beating Ofarel D'airy (11-7) by a shd, 6 ran.
Fair Question (IRE) 9-1 (9-11) Chased leaders, ridden after 4 out, soon weakened, 10th of 18, 38l behind Millenium Royal (11-12) at Haydock 2m 7f hcp hdl (2) gs in Nov.
Hard Act To Follow (IRE) 10-11fav (11-0) Made virtually all, drew clear from 3 out, eased near finish, very easily, won at Wetherby 2m 7f beg chs (5) gd in Oct '06 beating King of Confusion (11-0) by a distance, 7 ran.
