in touch, blundered 4th, fell 7th
held up towards rear, ridden after 4 out, weakened next
held up in rear, not fluent throughout, headway on bit 4 out, led 2 out, cheekily
held up in touch, ridden and mistake 3 out, soon weakened
chased leaders, pushed along and lost place 5th, weakened from 8th, tailed off after 4 out
led, ridden and headed 3 out, weakened next
with leader, ridden to lead approaching 3 out, headed 2 out, kept on, always held
The best of these over hurdles Multeen River is taken to make a winning debut over fences with Son of A Gun and Capricorn Princess rated the main dangers. The last mentioned, a 117 rated hurdler, ran promisingly on his chase debut behind useful recruit Brother Joe (three times a winner since) on his chase debut at Uttoxeter in June and should be better suited at this level, while Son Of A Gun finished second off a mark of 86 in a Worcester handicap two starts ago but was well held by Niagara at Plumpton last time. Astral Prince looks no better than plating class and unless Sue Smith's Sounds Cool can improve on recent form, this should go to Multeen River. A winner of a novices' hurdle at Bangor when last seen in December, Jonjo O'Neill's gelding is bred to come into his own over fences and is taken to make a winning start to his new career.