held up last, headway after 10th, ridden behind leaders approaching 3 out, tiring when jumped right 2 out, pulled up before last
led until fell 8th
prominent, headway and chased leader 11th, ridden approaching 3 out, kept on same pace
held up towards rear, mistake 7th, weakened and pulled up after 4 out
chased leader, left in lead 8th, ridden 3 out, headed before last, no extra
held up in mid-division, mistake 13th, weakened 4 out, fell 3 out
held up in touch, headway 4 out, ridden before 3 out, challenged 2 out, led before last, driven out
held up towards rear, soon no impression, pulled up before 3 out
This is an interesting beginners' chase and, from a shortlist containing Dempsey, Patches, Lacdoudal and Kadount, the vote goes to Kadount. Kadount was slightly disappointing at Wetherby on his seasonal return but bettered that with a good effort at Lingfield when stepped up to around today's trip. That rates as pretty decent novice form and he has to be given serious consideration. A useful hurdler, Dempsey fell on his chasing debut but has won here over hurdles. While he might be better with a little cut in the going, Lacdoudal has shown more than enough to suggest that he can win a race of this nature, and he may have been beaten by a decent novice in El Vaquero last time. That winner is trained by Henrietta Knight, who runs No Collusion, who looked decent over hurdles a couple of years ago but has had only one run recently, in which he fell. This leaves Patches, whose two recent victories have both been achieved here over hurdles. It is interesting that connections have now opted to take the chasing route and that, for us, has to be a tip in itself. While this trip will more than likely prove short of his best, he too has to be afforded all due respect here. However, the vote just goes to Kadount.
