tracked leader, upsides 3 out, led narrowly when blundered badly and headed next, soon ridden, regained narrow lead flat, edged left, just held on
held up in last pair when hit and unseated rider 9th
in touch, outpaced 3 out, soon ridden, left 4th at last, stayed on to dispute 3rd flat, not quite reach leaders
led, joined 3 out, headed narrowly when left in 1 length advantage next, soon ridden, edged right last, headed narrowly flat, kept on, just held
held up in last pair, lost touch when blundered 4 out, tailed off
tracked leaders, driven and outpaced by front pair after 3 out, not fluent last, ridden and hung left flat, kept on, not quite reach front pair
tracked leaders to 6th, held up towards rear, headway after 4 out, outpaced in 4th after next, rallied and in touch when not much room and fell last
Subsequent Grade 1 winner Finian’s Oscar took this last year for the Tizzard stable, who run White Moon. He is a dual hurdles winner who has already won a point-to-point. Nicky Henderson runs two and Jenkins made a successful start over fences when beating a solitary rival at Stratford. MR WHIPPED is preferred, however, as he has more of a jumping pedigree and still has time to repay the kindness shown when he was pulled up in the Albert Bartlett here in March. Count Meribel won at Carlisle earlier this month but was well behind the selection in a Grade 2 over hurdles at the start of the year. Jerrysback has a lengthy absence to overcome and Graasten may find this company too hot but Le Breuil will have learned plenty from his chasing bow at Huntingdon and is not out of this.
Count Meribel 8-1 (11-12) Always prominent, left in lead approaching 10th, strongly challenged 3 out, stayed on well, won at Carlisle 2m 4f hcp (3) gd in Nov beating Jammin Masters (11-8) by 2 1/2l, 13 ran.
Graasten (GER) 13-2 (11-8) Tracked leaders, hit 2nd, left 2nd 4 out, pushed along next, lost 2nd then pecked 2 out, soon switched right, 3rd and beaten from last, 3rd of 4, 4 1/4l behind Cubomania (11-11) at Cheltenham 2m 4f (2) gs in Oct.
Jenkins (IRE) 1-25fav (11-4) Made all, jumped well, drew clear approaching omitted last, easily (2 fences omitted), won at Stratford 2m 3f (4) gd in Oct beating Sussex Road (11-4) by 4 1/2l, 2 ran.
Le Breuil (FR) 1-9fav (11-2) Jumped well, tracked leader, niggled along before 2 out, led approaching last, ridden clear, won at Huntingdon 2m 4f (3) gd in Nov beating Real Warrior (11-2) by 18l, 2 ran.
Jerrysback (IRE) 4-11fav (11-9) Mid-division, tracked leaders 4th, challenged on bit on inside after 3 out, led last, unextended flat, impressive, won at Wetherby 2m 4f (4) gs in Feb beating Plus One (11-3) by 1 1/2l, 10 ran.
Mr Whipped (IRE) 16-1 (11-5) Towards rear of mid-division, some headway under pressure after 2 out, never near leaders, weakened and pulled up before last, at Cheltenham 3m (1) sft in Mar.
White Moon (GER) 7-2 (11-0) Raced wide close up, ridden 3 out, weakened well before next, tailed off, last of 7, dist behind On The Blind Side (11-5) at Sandown 2m 4f (1) gs in Dec.
