held up in touch, steady headway from 4th, disputed after 2 out, ridden and headed flat, kept on well close home
always towards rear, tailed off
prominent, ridden approaching 2 out, disputed after 2 out, led flat, stayed on well all out
chased leaders, ridden after 3 out, kept on same pace
led untill 2nd, chased leaders, ridden after 3 out, weakened next
mid-division untill 4th, soon behind, pulled up before 2 out
led after 2nd, mistake next, headed after 2 out, soon ridden, kept on same pace
held up towards rear, never troubled leaders
behind from 4th, tailed off
always towards rear
behind from 4th
held up towards rear, not fluent 2nd, tailed off and pulled up after next
always towards rear, tailed off and pulled up before 2 out
behind from 5th, tailed off
Said to be fully recovered from his Sandown injury scare last time, Bourbon Manhattan can get back to winning ways ahead of Football Crazy, Fool On The Hill, Regents Walk and, if he runs, Mister Mustard. The selection, a dual bumper winner, had shown a very good level of hurdling form, particularly when beating Bold Bishop on his debut at Aintree, prior to getting beaten in Sandown's Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle. However, an injury picked up there has now healed and he has to land this if he is to run at Cheltenham in March. Football Crazy, a seven-time winner on the Flat, has shown promise in his two hurdle runs to date and looks set to go well. He is closely weighted with Fool On The Hill based on their Taunton runs last time, so that one holds chances too. Tarboush has more ability than he often consents to show but has bits of form that might see him placed. Russian Comrade is a five-time winner on the Flat in Ireland but has shown little in two hurdle runs in this country. Mister Mustard is a banker for the frame if turning out again following an entry at Sandown on Friday. Regents Walk is certainly bred for this game and showed promise in a Southwell bumper on his sole run to date, and that race has worked out pretty well, while Imtihan is a dual Flat winner but his two hurdle runs to date, admittedly in probably slighter better races, has shown us little. Overall, though, we'll take Bourbon Manhattan to get back to winning ways.
