in rear, pushed along after 9th, left poor 3rd 2 out
chased leaders, pushed along after 9th, 6 lengths down in 2nd when fell 2 out
chased winner, ridden to go 2nd when fell 3 out
whipped round start, unseated rider
chased leaders, reminders approaching 7th, soon lost place, left remote 4th 3 out
held up in touch, mistake 4th, outpaced from 9th, left 2nd 2 out, no chance with winner
jumped well, made all and keen, left clear 3 out, left virtually alone 2 out, easily
Withdrawn
Nonrunner
Coat Of Honour and The Rising Moon both have ability and are interesting recruits to the novice chasing ranks but Hoo La Baloo is potentially useful and he gets the vote. The selection showed decent form over hurdles in France last term and is an interesting recruit to the powerful yard of Paul Nicholls. Tighe Caster is no slouch and Paul Webber's gelding made a winning start to his chasing career when landing a race at Worcester last month but this looks tougher under his penalty. Perth winner Cyborg de Sou is also likely to struggle under his penalty and of more interest may be Howard Johnson's Coat Of Honour, who won the race formerly known as the Swinton Hurdle when last seen under National Hunt rules. He does not have the look or build of a chaser though and a bigger threat is likely to come from The Rising Moon. Jonjo O'Neill's gelding is less exposed than most of these and may be better than he showed last term when like most of the yard's runners he was under a cloud.
Cyborg De Sou (FR) 14-1 (10-7) In rear, jumped slowly 1st, headway after 4 out, led 2 out, driven out, won at Perth 2m nov chs (D) gd in Sept beating Kalou (10-9) by 3/4l, 6 ran.
Tighe Caster 3-1jt-fav (10-12) Held up, not fluent 5th, headway 8th, ridden approaching 2 out, led flat, ran on, won at Worcester 2m beg chs (E) gf in Sept beating Demi Beau (10-12) by 1 1/2l, 9 ran.
Coat of Honour (USA) 6-1 (10-0) Chased leader, ridden to lead approaching 2 out, stayed on well, won at Haydock 2m hcp hdl Grd 3 (A) gs in May beating Definate Spectacle (10-0) by 5l, 11 ran.
Dabus 50-1 (10-7) Chased leaders, weakened from 4th, tailed off from 3 out, last of 9, well behind Karathaena (10-12) at Market Rasen 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-120 (D) gd.
The Rising Moon (IRE) 5-2fav (11-4) Held up in rear, headway 4th, ridden 2 out, weakened approaching last, 4th of 9, 18l behind Marcel (11-7) at Cheltenham 2m nov hdl Grd 2 (A) gd in Nov.
Hoo La Baloo (FR) (8-5) won at Bordeaux Le Bous 2m 2f hdl gd in Apr beating Hyalamo (8-7) by 6l, 4 ran.
Konker 33-1 (11-4) Chased leaders, behind from 9th, tailed off when blundered 3 out, 5th of 8, well behind Manoram (11-10) at Cheltenham 2m nov chs (C) gd.
Saddlers Boy 100-1 (10-11) Always behind, tailed off when pulled up at the last in race won by Darasim (10-11) at Carlisle 2m 1f nov hdl (E) gf, 13 ran.
