chased leaders, ridden 11th, soon weakened
held up, outpaced 11th, chased leading pair from 2 out, no impression
held up, weakened from 11th, tailed off when pulled up before last
mid-division, mistake 10th, went 3rd from 12th, weakened approaching 4 out
tracked winner, ridden approaching 2 out, weakened from last
always behind, struggling from 8th
made all, ridden approaching 2 out, clear from last
A cracking contest here and again the market will be very informative but the principals look to be According To John, Brooklyn Breeze and New Alco and the confident vote is given to According To John. The selection was a good third behind Denman in The Sun Alliance Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. He goes well fresh and although this shorter trip is a slight worry he will be hard to beat. New Alco rates the main danger on his best form but his stables inmates have tended to need there first run of the season. Brooklyn Breeze is another that could go well on his best form he has already had a pipe-opener over hurdles but on official bhb figures he has a little to find with the selection. Rambling Minster's best form is over a longer trip with more cut in the ground while Idle Talk is often let down by his jumping and with this in mind for the winner we return to According To John.
According To John (IRE) 66-1 (11-4) Mid-division, headway 5th, ridden when jumped right 3 out, stayed on from last, 3rd of 17, 14l behind Denman (11-4) at Cheltenham 3m nov chs Grd 1 (1) gs in Mar.
Brooklyn Breeze (IRE) 25-1 (11-9) Always behind, weakened approaching 5th, 9th of 12, 30l behind Culcabock (10-6) at Aintree 2m hcp hdl 0-130 (3) gd in Oct.
Caribou (FR) 11-1 (10-13) Held up, headway 5 out, effort 2 out, stayed on to lead flat, ridden out, won at Perth 3m nov chs (2) sft in Apr beating Lankawi (11-2) by 3 1/2l, 7 ran.
El Vaquero (IRE) 12-1 (11-3) Led, jumped right 5 out, soon headed, beaten when unseated rider 3 out in race won by Mister McGoldrick (11-8) at Wetherby 2m chs Grd 2 (A) sft in Dec '05, 5 ran.
Idle Talk (IRE) 20-1 (11-10) Mid-division, hit 11th, lost place when unseated rider in race won by Hot Weld (9-9) at Ayr 4m hcp chs Grd 3 (1) gf in Apr, 23 ran.
Rambling Minster 8-1 (10-8) Always behind and pulled up in race won by Hot Weld (9-9) at Ayr 4m hcp chs Grd 3 (1) gf in Apr, 23 ran.
New Alco (FR) 5-1 (11-4) Chased leaders, hit 2nd, weakened approaching 4 out, 7th of 18, 23l behind Reveillez (11-8) at Aintree 3m 1f hcp chs (2) gd in Apr.
