led, joined 9th, ridden and headed next, kept on, held from 3 out
behind from 4th, mistake 9th, kept on for 3rd
tracked leading pair, lost touch with front pair after 6th, lost 3rd flat
tracked leader, disputed lead 9th, led next, clear 3 out, ridden when hit 2 out, kept on well
Hoo La Baloo is probably better than he showed in the Victor Chandler Chase at Sandown earlier this month and may be better judged on his earlier success at the same venue on Boxing Day; however, the Paul Nicholls-trained gelding faces no easy task giving weight away all round and a better bet looks to be Voy Por Ustedes who is preferred to Tighe Caster. The last mentioned has ability but needs to improve to trouble the selection, while Dictum looks to be totally out of his depth. The vote then goes to Voy Por Ustedes. Alan King's gelding has shown progressive form over fences, including on a soft surface, and is taken to make it four from four.
Hoo La Baloo (FR) 9-4fav (11-2) Led after 1st, not fluent and headed after 5th, tracked leader afterwards, hit 9th, effort 3 out, weakened approaching last, 5th of 10, 7l behind Tysou (11-2) at Sandown 2m hcp chs Grd 3 (1) gf.
Dictum (GER) 16-1 (11-2) Chased leaders, weakened from 2 out, 8th of 16, 22l behind Patriarch Express (11-11) at Haydock 2m 4f hcp hdl (B) gs in Dec '04.
Tighe Caster 9-2 (11-9) Held up in touch, hit 7th, ridden approaching 3 out, kept on but no chance with winner, 2nd of 5, 10l behind Nyrche (11-9) at Wincanton 2m nov chs (C) gd in Nov.
Voy Por Ustedes (FR) 5-6fav (11-2) Tracked leaders, led approaching 6th, shaken up approaching last, ridden out, won at Warwick 2m nov chs (C) sft in Dec beating Royal Hector (11-8) by 4l, 4 ran.
