tracked leaders, not fluent 4th or 8th, hit 9th, fell next
held up, headway when pecked slightly 6th, not fluent 11th, outpaced from 4 out, no impression when jumped left last, went 3rd flat
led until 2nd, prominent, led 4 out, joined 2 out, soon headed, 3rd and beaten when awkward last, weakened flat
led 2nd, not fluent 10th, mistake and headed 4 out, challnged again 2 out, soon led, headed close home
tracked leaders, outpaced after 3 out, rallied from 2 out, stayed on under pressure to lead close home
Break The Chain and El Padrino make their chasing debuts and will be better for the experience, but Space Mission's earlier placed efforts over fences give him every chance if ready to go on his first start for over a year. Wood Yer made a winning debut over the larger obstacles at Plumpton in October and no doubt he'll improve further today, but GEORGE NYMPTON is rated higher over hurdles than the latter and he got off the mark over fences at Warwick earlier this month. Nick Williams' charge looks capable of following-up here and gets the vote.
Break The Chain 15-2 (10-13) Held up, ridden 6th, soon weakened, tailed off, finished in own time, 8th of 9, well behind Simonside (10-8) at Leicester 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-120 (4) gd in Nov.
El Padrino (IRE) 22-1 (10-12) Held up in mid-division, headway approaching 2 out, stayed on to 2nd last, no impression on winner, 2nd of 11, 3l behind Well Regarded (10-12) at Fontwell 2m 2f nh nov hdl (4) gd in Oct.
George Nympton (IRE) 15-8 (11-0) Tracked leader from 2nd, 15 lengths down 3 out, staying on well and only 1 1/2 lengths down when left well clear 2 out, won at Warwick 2m beg chs (4) gd beating Lady Willa (9-12) by 32l, 4 ran.
Space Mission (IRE) 25-1 (11-0) Behind, headway into mid-division 5 out, kept on same pace from next, never near leaders, 7th of 16, 29l behind Major Malarkey (11-6) at Newbury 3m nov hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd in Dec '10.
Wood Yer (IRE) Evensfav (11-11) Shared 2nd behind leader who was clear until 4th, hampered 6th, challenged 8th, not fluent next, led approaching 10th, mistake 2 out, stayed on well, pushed out, won at Plumpton 2m 4f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gd in Oct beating The Darling Boy (11-5) by 6l, 4 ran.