refused to race
led, reminders after 5th, ridden 6th, headed 8th, hit 4 out and 3 out, led again 2 out, headed last, weakened flat
held up and pulled hard, headway 7th, ridden after 3 out, soon weakened
in touch, stumbled approaching 6th, mistake 8th, soon weakened
chased leader, led 8th, headed 2 out, ridden to lead again last, headed towards finish
held up, headway after 5th, mistake 9th, ridden last, ran on to lead towards finish
chased leaders, weakened after 5th, behind when pulled up before 7th
It is folly to oppose Paul Nicholls at present so Smart Cavalier has to be the pick over Roznic, with The Local and Glengarra seen as the other main protagonists. Smart Cavalier joined the happy band of Ditcheat winners when successful at Folkestone last month. That victory showed that the ex-pointer had trained on and strengthened up on what was only his second outing after a summer break. The form of his earlier second at Plumpton has since been franked, and he does not look at all harshly treated on his handicap bow. The Peter Winkworth stable has hit a real purple patch at present and so Roznic will be fancied to defy a seven-pound rise for his recent Folkestone success, but he comes up against an improver in the shape of our selection. The Local did not waste much time in visiting the winner's enclosure after his summer absence when successful at Wincanton in December, but was made too much use of here next time and is a shade higher in the weights than Charlie Egerton would like. Glengarra looked back to his best when scoring at Fakenham, but might prefer a sharper track, and we have no hesitation in returning to Smart Cavalier as the answer.
Lord Lington (FR) 4-1fav (11-12) Held up in rear, headway after 5th, weakened 3 out, 6th of 10, 24l behind Honest Endeavour (10-11) at Leicester 2m hcp hdl 0-120 (D) gs in Nov.
The Local 11-4fav (11-1) With leader, led 4th, mistake 4 out, headed 3 out, ridden to lead again briefly 2 out, weakened flat, 4th of 8, 16l behind Tanikos (11-3) at Warwick 2m hcp chs 0-135 (3) gs.
Terivic 11-2 (11-5) Led to 10th, weakened after 3 out, last of 6, 42l behind Nadover (10-7) at Bangor 2m 4f nov chs (D) hvy in Dec.
Smart Cavalier 10-11fav (11-2) Tracked leaders, led 6th, clear and in command when jumped left last 2, eased near finish, won at Folkestone 2m mdn chs (4) sft beating Flying Patriarch (10-7) by 3l, 6 ran.
Glengarra (IRE) 9-2jt-fav (11-9) Made all, clear after 2 out, comfortably, won at Fakenham 2m nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gd beating Lord On The Run (11-3) by 2 1/2l, 11 ran.
Roznic (FR) 9-4fav (11-9) Soon tracked leader, effort going well 2 out, led before last, pushed clear, won at Folkestone 2m nov hcp chs 0-100 (4) sft beating Victory Roll (11-11) by 4l, 6 ran.
Vigoureux (FR) 6-1 (11-9) Tracked leader until quickly weakened 3 out, 7th of 8, 35l behind Silver Sedge (10-13) at Sedgefield 2m nov chs (4) sft.
