held up, pushed along approaching 6th, effort approaching 3 out, weakened before next
prominent, hit 6th, ridden after 3 out, kept on one pace from next, no impression on leaders when mistake last
held up in touch, headway and not fluent 4th, pushed along after 6th, ridden and weakened approaching 3 out
chased leaders, not fluent 3 out, soon outpaced, kept on well from last, not trouble leaders
mid-division, headway on outside approaching 5th, led 2 out, jumped left and mistake last, held on well, flat
led and clear 2nd to 5th, mistake and headed 2 out, soon ridden, not fluent last, no extra, flat
held up in rear, shaken up after 4th, headway on outside 6th, every chance 3 out, slightly outpaced when jumped left and mistake 2 out, rallied approaching last, chased winner and edged
chased leaders, not fluent 6th, hit next, soon weakened
held up, effort 6th, weakened approaching 3 out
held up and behind, good headway approaching 3 out, ridden 2 out, one pace approaching last
prominent until approaching 3 out
mid-division, ridden and effort approaching 3 out, no impression from next
prominent early, held up towards rear, headway approaching 7th, ridden and weakened approaching 3 out
always behind, lost touch after 5th, tailed off
in touch, not fluent 4th, weakened after 6th
A super looking renewal of the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle with plenty of the 16 runners holding solid claims including Martin Pipe's pair Comply Or Die and Sindapour, Jonjo O'Neill's Very Optimistic and decent flat recruit Inglis Drever but the vote goes to the hope of Ireland Sadlers Wings. The Willie Mullins-trained gelding was a more than useful middle distance horse on the flat and has looked even better over hurdles brushing aside the opposition in races at Punchestown and Navan. His trainer has a fine record at the meeting and the son of In The Wings is taken to further improve it. Tony McCoy has opted to ride the lightly raced Sindapour in preference to Comply Or Die and Fontanesi. The last mentioned of the trio is probably bets left out of calculations as four-year-olds have a poor record but, of the three, we prefer the claims of Comply Or Die, who has looked a novice of some potential from early on. The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Fundamentalist may find this coming too soon and a bigger threat may come from Inglis Drever. A decent staying handicapper on the flat with Sir Mark Prescott, the son of In The Wings has done nothing wrong since switching to the winter game and has to be respected. Very Optimistic has progressed from bumpers and has won his two starts over hurdles in decisive fashion. Jonjo O'Neill's gelding is another worthy of a mention but preference is for Sadlers Wings, who is taken to complete a hat trick.
