tracked leader, led approaching 3 out, ridden before headed and dropped to 3rd soon after 2 out, soon no chance with leading duo, mistake last
tracked leading pair until jumped slowly and pushed along from 5th, hit next, hung right under pressure and outpaced from 2 out,
raced keenly, held up disputing 5th, smooth headway tracking leaders approaching 2 out, led soon after 2 out, skaken up and clear approaching last, stayed on strongly
tracked leading trio, not fluent 2nd, went 3rd 5th, 2nd on long run before 2 out, every chance when blundered 2 out, not recover and soon eased
led, headed approaching 3 out, weakened quickly after 3 out, well beaten when blundered last
took keen hold, held up disputing 5th, steady headway approaching 2 out, hanging right and challenging when bumped 2 out, soon 2nd, driven and kept on run-in
mistake 1st, soon well in rear, jumped slowly 4th, soon lost touch, tailed off and pulled up before 2 out
Nicky Henderson has a good record in this with subsequent Supreme Novices’ winner Altior justifying favouritism last year. JENKINS has a way to go before showing himself to be in that class but he was always travelling strongly when landing a Newbury maiden last month which is already working out. Elgin comfortably made a winning start over timber at Newcastle and probably has more scope than Ballyhill, held by the selection on a line through Cheltenham winner Pingshou. Glaring caused a shock at Huntingdon but would need to step up again to take this and Mohaayed will need to be very smart to make a winning debut over hurdles in this grade.
Ballyhill (FR) 33-1 (11-8) Held up towards rear, headway after 3 out, ridden after next, stayed on same pace last, 4th of 12, 6l behind Pingshou (10-12) at Cheltenham 2m 1f (3) gd in Dec.
Jenkins (IRE) 10-11fav (11-0) Held up in touch, went 2nd before 3 out, led before last, kept on strongly, won at Newbury 2m mdn (3) sft in Nov beating Bags Groove (11-0) by 5l, 13 ran.
Elgin 9-4 (11-0) Held up mid-division, headway before 4th, challenged before 2 out, led last, held on well towards finish, ridden out, won at Newcastle 2m mdn (4) sft in Nov beating Dubai Angel (11-0) by 2 1/2l, 11 ran.
Glaring 33-1 (10-12) In touch in chasing group, hit 1st, closed from 3 out, led 2 out, ran on strongly flat, won at Huntingdon 2m (4) gs in Dec beating Burbank (10-12) by 1 1/2l, 16 ran.
Maximus Maridius 100-1 (10-12) Pulled hard, headway to lead 2nd, clear approaching 4th until next, hit 3 out, headed before next, chased leaders, weakened between last two, 6th of 13, 29 1/4l behind London Prize (10-12) at Leicester 2m (4) gd in Dec.
Mohaayed 16-1 (9-0) Rear of mid-division, no impression from 3f out, never a factor, 16th of 18, 21 1/2l behind Creggs Pipes (9-7) at Galway 1m 1f hcp Yielding - Soft in Jul.
Port 100-1 (11-0) Held up in 6th, pushed along after 3 out, weakened next, 7th of 8, 28l behind Thomas Campbell (11-5) at Ascot 2m (3) gs in Nov.
Bazooka (IRE) 20-1 (9-8) Dwelt in rear, ridden 5f out, headway under pressure over 1f out, never nearer, 5th of 14, 14 3/4l behind Come Back King (9-1) at Southwell 1m 3f hcp (5) pol in Dec.
