made virtually all, headed briefly 2 out, ridden between last 2, drew clear before last, eased flat, comfortably
in touch, upsides on outside 2 out, soon ridden and outpaced in 3rd, stayed on to go 2nd flat, no chance with winner
held up in rear, went 4th at 7th, tracked leading pair 13th, challenged between rivals and led briefly 2 out, soon outpaced, no chance with winner before last, lost 2nd flat
chased winner to 6th, in rear when mistake next, continued tailed off until pulled up before 12th
in touch, blundered 6th, lost place and dropped to rear 13th, soon ridden, no chance with leading trio from 3 out, tailed off
A very poor contest but TIME FOR SPRING should take it for Charlie Longsdon. A useful hurdler, he's done well over fences so far and ran the race of his life behind Sunnyhill Boy in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham, form that would see him very difficult to beat. Indian Pipe Dream is hardly consistent but he's capable of a big run on ground that is ideal and he has a C&D success to his credit. Pickamus last won on this track almost two years ago and is still on a 2lb higher mark while it's almost as long since Otage De Brion scored and he's been badly out of form. Chain Of Command ran poorly at Taunton last time but is not without a chance at his best which included a decent effort on fast ground here in October.
Pickamus (FR) 12-1 (10-2) Led, jumped right and not fluent 11th, jumped right 5 out, headed 2 out, weakened last, 6th of 12, 15l behind Aerial (11-3) at Newbury 2m 4f hcp chs G3 (1) gd.
Time For Spring (IRE) 25-1 (10-11) Tracked leaders, headway 3 out, effort when hit next, kept on same pace approaching last, ridden and no impression flat, 6th of 23, 12l behind Sunnyhillboy (11-11) at Cheltenham 3m 1f Amateur Handicap Chase (0-145) (5yo+) (2) gd.
Chain Of Command (IRE) 8-1 (11-5) Keen early, held up in last pair in touch, jumped left and mistake 3 out, not recover, pulled up before next, in a race won by Fox Appeal (11-5) at Taunton 3m hcp hdl 0-130 (3) gs in Jan, 8 ran.
Indian Pipe Dream (IRE) 33-1 (11-0) Last and ridden from 2nd, not fluent 4th, behind next, tailed off 8th, pulled up after 11th, in a race won by Master Of The Hall (11-5) at Aintree 3m 1f Listed chs (1) hvy in Dec, 4 ran.
Otage De Brion (FR) 15-2 (11-0) Led to 4 out, blundered 11th, weakened before 3 out, 7th of 10, 41l behind Mylord Collonges (10-6) at Stratford 2m 7f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd.
