made all, jumped well, went clear from 5th, slightly reduced lead 3 out, stayed on strongly from before last, easily
raced in rear, went moderate 3rd after 5 out, hit 2 out, soon ridden and no impression, kept on same pace
chased leader, moderate 2nd from 5th, slight mistake next, a little closer 3 out, no impression and kept on same pace from before last
in rear when fell 1st
soon raced in moderate 3rd, jumped right 2nd and 3rd, dropped to last after 5 out, no impression and kept on same pace straight
If ARVIKA LIGEONNIERE lives up to his rating there should only be one winner. Already a quadruple winner at Grade 1 level over fences, he couldn't survive a bad blunder in the Champion Chase where he pulled much too hard but an earlier 14-length defeat of Toner D'Oudairies at Punchestown would be good enough for this. Foildubh, who won this a year ago, was behind him at Clonmel in November and is probably better over further nowadays. Twinlight was well below his best at Naas last time and may need a confidence-booster but Turban, the third of the Willie Mullins brigade, was only just touched off by Argocat at Gowran and the winner ran very well at Aintree on Thursday. Savello hadn't looked up to this sort of grade until landing the Grand Annual at Cheltenham and there should be more to come.
Arvika Ligeonniere (FR) 8-1 (11-10) Prominent, led approaching 6th, mistake 8th, soon headed, weakened before 3 out, pulled up before 2 out, in a race won by Sire De Grugy (11-10) at Cheltenham 2m chs G1 (1) gd in Mar, 11 ran.
Foildubh (IRE) 7-1 (11-6) Tracked leader in 2nd, not match winner from after 4 out, slight mistake 3 out and no extra, hit 2 out, soon dropped to rear and eased, last of 3, well behind Un De Sceaux (11-6) at Navan 2m hdl sft in Jan.
Twinlight (FR) 4-11fav (11-10) Raced on outer, soon disputed lead, headed from 4th, mistake 4 out, ridden before straight, dropped to last 2 out, soon eased, last of 3, well behind Days Hotel (11-10) at Naas 2m chs G2 (1) in Feb.
Turban (FR) 5-4fav (11-3) Held up, mainly last, closer 3 out, progress into 2nd 2 out, soon ridden, pressed winner from last, just held close home, 2nd of 4, 3/4l behind Argocat (11-8) at Gowran Park 2m 4f chs Grd 2 (1) hvy in Feb.
Kates Benefit (IRE) 4-7fav (11-7) Made all, 5 lengths advantage 4 out, in command from early straight, kept on well, easily, won at Gowran Park 2m 2f mrs beg chs hvy in Mar beating Ellaway Rose (11-7) by 5l, 10 ran.
Savello (IRE) 16-1 (11-5) Not fluent 1st, soon settled mid-division, steady headway 3 out, chased leaders next, ridden after last, stayed on to lead final 100 yards, won at Cheltenham 2m hcp chs G3 (1) gd in Mar beating Ned Buntline (10-10) by 1 1/4l, 23 ran.
