chased clear winner, lost 2nd when mistake 5th, soon pushed along, ridden and outpaced next, stayed on to go 2nd 2 out, no impression
made all, soon clear, mistake last, unchallenged
chased leaders, went 2nd 5th, weakened under pressure approaching 2 out
held up in rear, jumped right and mistake 5th, soon struggling, tailed off
held up towards rear, not fluent 2nd, reminders 5th, soon lost touch, tailed off when pulled up before last
held up in rear, never in contention, weakened after 3 out
held up in rear, raced keenly, headway to go 3rd approaching 3 out, no impression
It will be interesting to see how Hallstatt and Kayfiar perform first time out over hurdles but RUPESTRIAN sets a decent standard having won each of his fours starts over hurdles, latterly in decisive fashion at Market Rasen and Tim Vaughan's gelding is taken to make it five on the bounce today. Ravine Rose and Witch of The Wave have shown no worthwhile form, while Highams Park makes limited appeal first time over timber given his record on the level. Michael Chapman's Royal Max was nothing out of the ordinary on the flat but already looks better over hurdles judged by placed efforts at Mark Rasen and Perth prior to a convincing win over course and distance in a seller last week. This is tougher under a penalty for the son of Hawkeye and of more interest may be one of the newcomers. Hallstatt failed to trouble the judge after making a winning debut for Mark Johnston but ran to a reasonable level of form and he has to be considered on his debut for Evan Williams. Kayfiar is a rare runner over hurdles for Paul Cole but the switch to the winter game may be the making of the colt. Rupestrian has done nothing wrong over hurdles so far though and he is taken to win his fifth race over timber.
Rupestrian 7-4fav (11-1) Pressed leader until after 3rd, 2nd again before 5th, led after next, drew clear approaching 2 out, won at Market Rasen 2m 1f 3yo nov hdl (3) gd in Jul beating Royal Max (10-12) by 14l, 9 ran.
Royal Max (IRE) 11-10fav (10-12) Made all, came clear after 3 out, very easily, won at Stratford 2m 3yo nov sll hdl (5) gf beating Wise Princess (9-12) by 21l, 10 ran.
Hallstatt (IRE) 10-3 (8-9) Close up, tracked leaders 7f out, ridden 2f out, weakened tamely, 6th of 7, 10l behind Dancourt (8-12) at Sandown 1m 2f hcp 0-90 (3) gf in Jul (flat).
Kayfiar (USA) 11-1 (9-1) Tracked leader, reminders 5f out, ridden 3f out, soon weakened, 10th of 12, 17l behind Love In The Park (10-0) at Lingfield 1m 2f hcp 0-65 (6) gs (flat).
Highams Park (IRE) 40-1 (8-3) Tracked leaders, chased leader over 5f out, ridden and weakened over 2f out, 8th of 10, 24l behind Follow The Dream (9-0) at Chepstow 2m 2f mdn hcap 0-65 (6) gd (flat).
Ravine Rose 33-1 (10-5) Towards rear, struggling 6th, soon tailed off, pulled up before 2 out, in a race won by Royal Max (10-12) at Stratford 2m 3yo nov sll hdl (5) gf, 10 ran.
Witch of The Wave (IRE) 33-1 (10-5) Chased leaders, raced keenly, not much room and hampered 6th, soon weakened, 11th of 16, well behind Rupestrian (10-12) at Stratford 2m 3yo nov hdl (3) gd in May.
