prominent, not always fluent, weakened approaching 4 out, fell last
held up in rear, ridden after 11th, no impression
prominent, ridden 11th, chased winner from 2 out, no impression last
held up in touch, chased winner from 8th until not fluent 2 out, weakened last
chased leaders, lost place and not fluent 9th, went left and mistake 4 out, weakened next
made all, ridden after 3 out, soon clear, stayed on well
held up in rear, headway after 11th, went right and weakened last
ALESANDRO MANTEGNA appears to appreciate smaller fields and with good ground obtaining, there should be relatively few excuses this afternoon. Somewhat unusually for a Turtle Island progeny, Sir Ian, is perfectly at home on a faster surface so Charlie Longsdon's seven-year-old has to be respected after a convincing win at the course. He reopposes Storm Of Applause this afternoon. Nudge And Nurdle is probably better with a bit more give underfoot whilst Another Trump has been deemed to have improved 16lb since his last chasing mark. In fairness to the assessor, however, one should point out that this had languished some 20lb beneath his equivalent rating over hurdles. Haar has ability though has become very difficult to catch right.
Haar 15-2 (11-0) Held up in rear, mistake 1st, not fluent next, jumped slowly 3rd, brought down 11th, in a race won by Mont Present (11-0) at Worcester 2m 7f beg chase (4) gd in May, 12 ran.
Nudge And Nurdle (IRE) 11-2 (11-3) Tracked leaders, jumped slowly and ridden along 12th, went 2nd next until 4 out, weakened approaching 3 out, 5th of 8, 31l behind Soubriquet (10-6) at Perth 3m hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft in Sep.
Alesandro Mantegna (IRE) 7-4fav (10-11) Chased leader 2nd, challenged 3 out, narrow lead 2 out, kept on gamely towards finish, won at Fontwell 2m 2f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft beating Marodima (11-2) by 3/4l, 7 ran.
Holmwood Legend 5-2fav (10-12) Held up, headway to chase leaders, 9th, reminders after next, driven to chase winner before 3 out, mistake next, no impression when dropped to 3rd before last, 3rd of 7, 6l behind Busy Isit (11-12) at Kempton 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (3) gd in Apr.
Storm of Applause (IRE) 12-1 (11-11) In touch, ridden approaching 4 out, chased winner before last, no impression, flattered by proximity, 2nd of 10, 5l behind Sir Ian (11-0) at Worcester 2m 4f hcp chs 0-120 (3) gd in Sep.
Sir Ian (IRE) 16-1 (11-0) Took keen hold, prominent, led 9th, in command and drew clear approaching 4 out, eased final 100 yards, won at Worcester 2m 4f hcp chs 0-120 (3) gd in Sep beating Storm of Applause (11-11) by 5l, 10 ran.
Another Trump (NZ) 3-1 (11-8) Tracked leaders, hampered 7th, went 2nd 11th, challenged 2 out, led flat, driven out, won at Worcester 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Sep beating Frosted Grape (11-2) by hd, 11 ran.
