led, ridden and headed 2 out, no chance with winner
chased leader, ridden 3 out, weakened 2 out, in 4th when blundered last
held up towards rear, ridden 3 out, never dangerous
held up, jumped slow 7th, soon pushed along, never dangerous
held up in rear, headway 3 out, never dangerous
held up in touch, led 2 out, ran on well
chased leaders, ridden 3 out, one pace
Nonrunner
A disappointing turnout for this valuable prize but that won't bother connections of Silencio who looks to have been laid out for this contest. Red Scally and Tell Henry are two of his more interesting adversaries but we'll start with taking a look at Cool Roxy. The star of his stable ran a blinder on his last run over hurdles to finish second to Chomba Womba at Kempton and hasn't gone up by too much in the weights. He's running as well as ever but hasn't been this high in the weights over hurdles since 2005 and only one of his ten wins has come away from his beloved Fakenham. Silencio never featured behind stablemate Oh Crick on his first run since May but he should be cherry ripe today. He's won 5 of his 14 starts, all on good ground or faster and all with Choc Thornton in the saddle. He's only 5lbs higher than when last successful and has everything in his favour. Flake and Capitalise are not without claims but the latter doesn't win often enough to be backed with confidence and the former is thoroughly exposed. Patavium is a little high in the weights and John Forbes would prefer more cut. Red Scally would be a threat to all on last season's form and is one to be wary of and Tell Henry also has to be feared. Things haven't gone his way over fences but he was a useful hurdler who ran better than it first appears last time. His stable's been struggling for winners though and we prefer the look of Silencio.
Cool Roxy 11-4jt-fav (11-9) Tracked leader, led 3rd, mistake and headed 7th, mistake and led 10th, headed 14th, soon ridden, one pace from 2 out, 3rd of 6, 7l behind The Dark Lord (11-8) at Fakenham 3m hcp chs 0-130 (3) gd.
Silencio (IRE) 25-1 (11-9) Held up in touch, ridden after 4 out, weakened approaching 3 out, 5th of 7, 23l behind Oh Crick (10-12) at Exeter 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-130 (3) gs.
Patavium (IRE) 10-1 (11-12) Tracked leaders, lost place 8th, ridden and soon beaten, 9th of 13, 39l behind Dundock (10-7) at Musselburgh 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-120 (3) gs.
John Forbes 28-1 (10-9) Chased leaders, lost place 4th, soon behind, 14th of 16, 38l behind Pilca (10-1) at Newcastle 2m hcp hdl 0-135 (3) gs.
Capitalise (IRE) 5-1 (10-13) Towards rear, headway approaching 4 out, weakend approaching last, 5th of 9, 8l behind Traprain (11-2) at Wetherby 2m hcp hdl 0-130 (3) gf in Nov.
Flake 4-1fav (11-7) Led from 2nd to 7th, remained close up, staying on when not much room and hit rail run-in, no extra towards finish, 2nd of 8, 1/2l behind Primus Inter Pares (10-7) at Catterick 2m 3f hcp chs 0-120 (3) sft.
Tell Henry (IRE) 7-1 (11-6) Held up, headway 4 out, no impression, 5th of 12, 44l behind Fresh Winter (11-4) at Catterick 3m 1f hcp hdl 0-120 (3) sft.
Red Scally 12-1 (11-12) Always towards rear, hit 7th, soon weakened and pulled up 3 out in race won by Overserved (11-7) at Ayr 2m 5f hcp hdl 0-115 (4) hvy, 7 ran.
