led, strongly challenged 3 out, headed approaching next, soon weakened
raced in rear but in touch, mistake 9th, headway 12th, under pressure 4 out, soon beaten
prominent, pushed along 4 out, soon lost place
tracked leaders, driven to challenge approaching 2 out, soon every chance, kept on same place from last
tracked leaders, mistake 6th, soon lost place and in touch, not fluent 7th, weakened after 4 out
held up in touch, under pressure 5 out, soon beaten
raced in rear but in touch, slow 7th, tracked leaders next, led approaching and not fluent 2 out, ridden clear, ran on well
A good looking race where RADIUM will be fancied to enhance Nicky Henderson's good record by providing him with his fourth winner in six years. In order to do so, he'll have to reverse Cheltenham Festival form with Pause And Clause who finished just over 3 lengths in front of him when landing the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle. Emma Lavelle's charge also has the benefit of a couple of runs over fences to his name and posted a highly respectable effort on his reappearance when running the useful Billie Magern close. Othermix finished second in the Jewson at Cheltenham so has to be feared whilst County Zen, Quartano and Fiftyonefiftyone have all shown plenty of ability at various stages of their careers and couldn't be completely ruled out despite having a little more to prove.
Cois Farraig 2-5fav (11-0) Tracked leader, led 2nd, ridden and narrowly headed 2 out, no extra and held before last, 2nd of 11, 1 3/4l behind Dean's Grange (11-0) at Kempton 2m NH mdn hdl (4) gd in Apr.
County Zen (FR) 6-1 (11-8) Tracked leader, ridden to lead after 2 out, hard pressed, stayed on gamely, won at Newbury 2m hcp hdl 0-135 (3) sft in Mar beating Sambulando (11-5) by 1/2l, 9 ran.
Fiftyonefiftyone (IRE) 4-1 (11-0) Pulled hard, tracked leader, ridden before 3 out, soon no extra and dropped to 3rd, eased, 3rd of 8, 19l behind Summery Justice (11-0) at Kempton 2m 4f beg chase (4) gs in Feb.
Othermix (FR) 14-1 (11-4) Held up in touch, weakened from 5 out, 4th of 6, well behind Mad Max (11-4) at Aintree 2m 4f nov chs G2 (1) gs in Apr.
Pause And Clause (IRE) 7-4fav (11-1) Tracked clear pair, jumped right 3rd, reminder 6th, headway 4 out, went 2 lengths 2nd before next, soon ridden, kept on under pressure to press winner flat, held towards finish, 2nd of 6, 3/4l behind Billie Magern (11-9) at Market Rasen 2m 6f nov chs (2) gd in Sep.
Quartano (GER) 4-1 (11-8) Chased leaders approaching 2nd, pushed along 4th, lost place next, weakened and pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by County Zen (11-8) at Newbury 2m hcp hdl 0-135 (3) sft in Mar, 9 ran.
Radium (FR) 12-1 (11-2) Mid-division, 11th halfway, no extra approaching 2 out, 14th of 21, 23l behind Dorset Square (9-12) at Punchestown 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-145 gd in Apr.
