held up in touch, chased leaders when bumped 5 out, ridden and no impression from 3 out
chased leaders, blundered 3rd, lost place 7th, soon ridden and beaten
tracked winner, mistake 7th, hit 3 out, soon ridden and one pace
made all, hit 1st, jumped right and mistake 3 out, driven clear after next, stayed on well, comfortably
held up, chased leaders when jumped right 5 out, outpaced next, jumped right and no impression from 3 out
held up in rear, mistakes 1st and 4th, headway after 5 out, went 2nd after 3 out, soon ridden, kept on, no chance with winner
Big Rob gets the call over Brown Teddy and Caribbean Cove in this novices' handicap chase. That trio look well ahead of the rest and with each of them scoring last time out, a close contest is in the offing. However, we shall plump for Big Rob who was having only his fifth career outing and was making his debut over fences when successful at Newbury in November. Connections were a bit worried that as he was only five-years-old at the time, they were rushing him a bit, but they need not have worried as he handled the fences at the Berkshire track with aplomb, jumping fluently to account for Barton Hill. He will get a trip in time but at present will be kept to shorter distances and has plenty of improvement to come. Brown Teddy won well enough at Kelso on his chase debut but did not beat much, while Caribbean Cove, the most experienced over fences of the leading players here, will find this trip a bit on the short side. Tunes Of Glory has shown nothing over hurdles since coming over from Ireland and it is amazing that they have waited until now to put him over fences. He cannot be seriously considered here, and we have to go with Big Rob.
