slowly into stride, held up and keen, headway approaching 3 out, soon ridden, weakened 2 out
held up and keen, good headway approaching 3 out, pressed leader, ridden approaching 2 out, not fluent last, led briefly flat, kept on well, badly hampered final strides
held up, headway approaching 5th, ridden and weakened after 7th, tailed off
held up in touch, headway approaching 3 out, soon ridden, kept on same pace
held up, good headway after 7th, led approaching 3 out, soon ridden, mistake last, no extra when headed flat
chased leader, 20 lengths second at 4th, headway after 7th, ridden approaching 3 out, led flat, veered badly left under pressure final stride, all out
Mount Karinga is one to follow this season and gets the nod over stablemate Blue Endeavour and Martin Pipe's Vodka Bleu. Paul Nicholls won this event with Ask The Natives four years ago and reports that Mount Karinga has schooled really well since landing a Chepstow bumper in the spring. The son of Karinga Bay will be aimed at some of the better two and a half mile hurdle events later in the season if all goes well, and although he would appreciate more cut in the ground, can make a winning start over timber under Joe Tizzard. With Ruby Walsh sidelined through injury, Timmy Murphy will come in for plenty of rides as well, and gets the leg up on the stable's other entry Blue Endeavour who jumps well at home. He is not held in the same regard as the selection though, and a bigger danger may be Vodka Bleu who was compared to Pizzaro after making a winning bow at Leopardstown. It was no surprise when he was purchased by David Johnson, and he too looks one to follow. His Haydock win has been advertised by Provocative just this weekend, and he has been given time to mature after unseating in Aintree's Champion Bumper. They are the main contenders then and for the winner we return to Mount Karinga.
