tracked leaders, weakened and tailed off from 15th, left remote 3rd next
led to 10th, tracked leader, blundered 14th, ridden and one pace from 3 out
tracked leader, led 10th, blundered 3 out, hard ridden and hung left, hit last, driven out
held up in rear, moderate 3rd when blundered and fell 4 out
held up, blundered 8th and 9th, soon lost place, tailed off when pulled up before 13th
Only five go to post and the selection is Steppes of Gold, with the main opposition coming from Isotop, Fu Fighter and Knock Lord. Steppes of Gold, trained by Jonjo O'Neil and ridden by Tony McCoy, is well up to this task as shown by his run at Cheltenham, which looks much better form than anything else in this contest. John Allen's Isotop had a disappointing run at Chepstow last time and would need to find a fair bit to win this. Fu Fighter needs to brush up on the jumping stakes and Knock Lord, a point-to-pointer is now being tried over regulation fences. The clear choice though is Steppes of Gold, who is taken to win this long distance chase.
Isotop (FR) 3-1co-fav (11-3) Prominent, hit 5th, led 11th until 12th, weakened 4 out, 3rd of 9, well behind Arceye (10-12) at Chepstow 3m beg chs (4) gd in Apr.
Knock Lord (IRE) 11-10fav (12-0) 3rd of 12, 3 1/2l behind Intrepid Gal (11-9) at Garthorpe 3m ptp gd in Mar '03.
Steppes of Gold (IRE) 12-1 (11-7) Always behind, 12th of 22, 34l behind Hot Weld (11-11) at Cheltenham 4m 1f nov amt chs (2) gd in Mar.
Fu Fighter 9-2 (11-6) Held up, towards rear, headway 3 out, one pace and no impression from next, 5th of 12, 13l behind Wise Tale (10-8) at Market Rasen 2m 6f hcp hdl 0-110 (E) gd in Sept.
Pridewood Dove 100-1 (10-3) Always behind, tailed off from 3 out, 15th of 16, well behind Twist Bookie (11-1) at Ludlow 2m nov clm hdl (F) gs in Dec.
