led, pushed along before 4 out, mistake and headed next, jumped left and not fluent 2 out, well held by winner last
tracked leaders, went 2nd 11th until before 4 out, well held in 3rd from 3 out, not fluent next
held up, not fluent 7th, in touch when not fluent 9th, mistake and struggling 12th, well beaten when not fluent 5 out, soon pulled up
held up on inside, not fluent 6th, headway 8th, went 2nd before 4 out, led next, jumped left 2 out and when clear last, eased towards finish
tracked leader, not fluent 3rd or 9th, lost 2nd 11th, outpaced from 5 out, well held from 4 out
chased leaders, awkward 2nd, slipped badly and almost fell, dropped into last, jumped left next, not fluent 4th, fell 7th
Mendip Express has won seven times between the flags but fell when odds-on for his only previous start under Rules when trained by Paul Nicholls. Now with Harry Fry, he will probably be placed to good effect before long but SIXTY SOMETHING makes more appeal here. Paul Webber's grey won three times over hurdles in decent company last season, including first-time up at Aintree. Bracken House was beaten a long way under his penalty at Carlisle last time while Attycran has already had 12 runs over the larger obstacles and is thoroughly exposed.
Bracken House (IRE) 14-1 (11-11) Tracked leaders, lost place before 4 out, rallied 2 out, stayed on, 4th of 7, 36l behind Beeves (11-4) at Carlisle 2m 4f nov chs (4) gd in Oct.
Attycran (IRE) 7-2 (10-5) Tracked leaders, reminder after 6th, ridden 8th, lost place 2 out, last of 7, 20l behind Rossini's Dancer (11-5) at Hexham 2m 4f hcp chs 0-120 (4) gd in Oct.
Grey Shadow (IRE) Tikkanen gelding out of Prospect Lady.
Mendip Express (IRE) 4-5 (12-7) (tt) ap; led 2 out; impressive, won at Berkeley 3m ptp gs in Apr beating On Borrowed Wings (12-7) by 8l, 5 ran.
Royal Sam (IRE) 16-1 (11-11) Close up and disputed lead, headed and no extra from before 3 out, 12th of 15, well behind Ancient Sands (11-10) at Down Royal 2m hcp hdl 80-102 gf in Aug.
Sixty Something (FR) 12-1 (11-2) Tracked leaders, one pace 2 out, no extra last, 6th of 21, 24l behind Battle Group (10-9) at Aintree 3m hcp hdl Grade 3 (1) gd in Apr.