held up in rear, not fluent 4th, pushed along and weakened approaching 4 out, tailed off
made all, keen early, ridden after last, stayed on well
held up, soon tracking leaders, ridden and weakened approaching 3 out
tracked leaders, not fluent 3rd, soon lost place
prominent and raced keen, chased winner 2 out, not quicken flat
held up, pushed along after 4 out, soon outpaced
tracked winner, challenged 3 out, weakened next
It's been a long time since Babe Maccool saw a racecourse and it would be a superb training feat for David Pipe to have the gelding ready to win this, and we will take a chance on WATCHMAKER. The Tor Sturgis-trained gelding should be worth a mark of around 100 over hurdles if he can transfer his ability to this sphere. He stays 10f on the flat, so should be ideal for this trip, and provided he handles conditions he should give a very good account. Flanders Fields is another interesting hurdles debutant and the former French-trained gelding is now in the care of Gary Moore. He should stay and act on the ground and market support would be interesting. Babe Maccool has to prove he handles conditions but he was previously rated in the 80s on the flat before his lay-off and if he retains that ability then he is to be feared. Blacktoft pops up now and again but probably wants better ground to be at his best and Watchmaker can time his run to perfection.
Babe Maccool (IRE) 10-1 (10-12) Mid-division, not fluent 4th, driven along from 5th, lost touch with leading quartet from 6th, tailed off, 5th of 10, 46l behind Deep Purple (10-12) at Stratford 2m nh nov hdl (3) gd in May '07.
Blacktoft (USA) 9-1 (11-0) Led, hit 4th, headed and blundered 3 out, soon weakened, 5th of 9, well behind Sambulando (11-0) at Cartmel 2m 1f mdn hdl (5) gs in May.
Noubian (USA) 14-1 (11-1) Held up in rear, fell 3rd, in a race won by Gainsborough's Art (10-4) at Huntingdon 2m nov hcp hdl 0-105 (4) gs in Feb, 16 ran.
Taxman (IRE) 25-1 (10-12) Held up in rear, headway approaching 2 out, never nearer, 7th of 14, 22l behind Turf War (11-5) at Ffos Las 2m nh nov hdl (4) gd in Jun.
Holden Caulfield (IRE) 50-1 (10-7) In touch, ridden 6th, weakened before next, tailed off, 4th of 7, well behind Benhego (11-0) at Fontwell 2m 2f nh nov hdl (4) gd in May.
Chiff Chaff 80-1 (10-3) Took keen hold early, held up in rear, not fluent 5th, soon lost touch, 6th of 11, well behind Rising Force (10-12) at Stratford 2m nh nov hdl (3) gd in Jul '08.
Sweet As Pye 18-1 (10-12) Prominent, chased leader after 2nd, jumped right final 3, weakened approaching 2 out, 7th of 13, 20l behind Rhinestone Ruby (10-12) at Worcester 2m mdn hdl (5) gs.
Watchmaker 16-1 (9-2) Led to 7f out, chased leader to inside final 2f, weakened quickly, 13th of 14, 39l behind Beau Fighter (9-0) at Newbury 1m 2f hcp 0-70 (5) gs in May (flat).
Flanders Fields 12-1 (9-3) Raced keenly in touch on outside, ridden and lost touch over 3f out, weakened quickly, eased over 1f out, tailed off, last of 8, well behind Quite A Fella (9-3) at Lingfield 1m 4f mdn stks (5) pol in Jan (flat).
