led, mistakes 7th and 8th, ridden 3 out, soon headed and beat
prominent, ridden 3 out, soon weakened
always prominent, led after 3 out, soon clear, eased heavily towards finish
General Claremont will be a warm order here and has a good chance of winning. The Paul Nicholls-trained 10-year-old has never won a hurdle and is better known for his chasing exploits. However, this is not a tough race and, rated in the 120s as a chaser, looks to have the most natural talent in the field, even though he is the elder statesman. Court Leney is a point-to-point winner and has just one inauspicious run under Rules to his name. As such, the biggest threat to the selection is likely to come from Parsons Pride. The only one of these to have won a hurdle race, that came at Worcester on September 7. The form of that contest is not exceptional and, although it would not come as the greatest surprise were he to win, we are happy to stick with General Claremont.
