pressed leader, led narrowly 4 out, joined 2 out, headed narrowly last, ridden and stayed on gamely flat, no extra towards finish
made most, not fluent and headed narrowly 4 out, driven and lost place after 3 out, beaten next, soon weakened
tracked leaders, went 2nd and poised to challenge after 3 out, upsides next, led narrowly last, soon ridden, all out to assert towards finish
held up in rear, tracked leaders when not fluent 3 out, soon outpaced, 4th and beaten from next
tracked leaders, went 3rd turning in, driven and one pace between last 2, no chance with front pair before last
tracked leaders to 4th, held up in last pair, not fluent 9th, soon struggling, tailed off 3 out
Last season’s exciting novice SCEAU ROYAL returns to action having won the Grade 1 Henry V111 Novice Chase at Sandown last year before signing off with a Grade 2 success at Doncaster. Alan King’s charge looks the one to beat on his reappearance given the talented Brain Power, a runner-up in the Arkle here in March, has failed to complete three of his last four starts over fences. This year’s Grand Annual winner Le Prezien may prove a bigger threat with last month’s outing over hurdles under his belt given Simply Ned could only manage fourth in this last season while Colin Tizzard has won the last two runnings with Fox Norton but Sizing Granite will need to improve on his recent efforts to figure and so will Forest Bihan.
Simply Ned (IRE) 4-1 (11-12) Held up in 4th, not fluent 5 out, outpaced before 2 out, soon ridden, never able to challenge, 4th of 5, 19l behind Nuts Well (10-4) at Kelso 2m 1f hcp (2) gd in Oct.
Le Prezien (FR) 5-1 (11-2) Held up, progress on inside approaching 3 out, pushed along and pulled out approaching 2 out, soon slightly outpaced, stayed on under pressure to take 2nd post, 2nd of 8, 3l behind Silver Streak (10-4) at Ffos Las 2m hcp (2) gs in Oct.
Sceau Royal (FR) 1-2fav (11-5) Tracked leaders in 3rd, headway before 3 out, chased leader before 2 out, ridden to lead before last, kept on well run-in, won at Doncaster 2m (1) sft in Jan beating Shantou Rock (11-0) by 2l, 4 ran.
Brain Power (IRE) 5-2 (11-4) In rear and not fluent, fell 8th, at Aintree 2m 4f (1) gs in Apr.
Forest Bihan (FR) 10-1 (11-12) In touch in mid-division, not fluent 5th, lost place 9th, weakened 2 out, 6th of 11, 26l behind Theinval (11-2) at Ayr 2m hcp lst (1) gd in Apr.
Sizing Granite (IRE) 12-1 (10-5) Held up, short-lived effort 3 out, soon ridden and weakened, 6th of 8, 23 3/4l behind Silver Streak (10-4) at Ffos Las 2m hcp (2) gs in Oct.
