prominent until ridden 4 out, weakened next
held up in touch, ridden and weakened approaching 4 out
behind, soon ridden along
held up, headway 5th, ridden 7th, jumped left 4 out, 4th and no impression when fell 2 out
with leader until after 8th, ridden and weakened next
held up, headway approaching 4 out, led approaching 2 out, ridden out
led to 2 out, hard ridden when mistake last
keen in rear, headway on inside approaching 4 out, jumped right 3 out, weakened next
Inglis Drever will prove hard to stop in his hat-trick bid and gets a confident vote over the progressive Neptune Collonges and Brewster, Baracouda won this 12 months ago, and of course he has already been eclipsed by the new star in the staying ranks Inglis Drever, who has took over the mantle after beating the French star twice already, at Cheltenham in March and more recently at Newbury. With form like that, there is no way that any of today's opposition can be recommended to cause an upset. There is of course another French-bred here in the shape of Neptune Collonges who revels in testing ground and is seen as a future star by connections. They may have to wait a while for him to fulfill his potential though and he looks booked for second place at best. Brewster will come on for his return and is used to mixing it with the best, but he surely cannot beat the selection off levels, and all in all it has to be a case of one-way traffic, with all roads leading to Inglish Drever.
Bob Bob Bobbin 5-2 (11-6) Mid-division, headway 8th, ridden in 3rd approaching 4 out, soon one pace, 3rd of 14, 10l behind Lough Derg (11-6) at Exeter 2m 7f beg chs (D) gs.
Brewster (IRE) 7-2 (11-4) Chased leader to 7th, hit next, ridden 3 out, soon weakened, 5th of 11, 20l behind Inglis Drever (11-8) at Wetherby 3m 1f hdl Grd 2 (A) sft in Oct.
Carlys Quest 100-1 (11-8) Held up, behind from 6th, 5th of 6, 36l behind Inglis Drever (11-8) at Newbury 3m hdl Grd 2 (A) gd in Nov.
Inglis Drever 8-13fav (11-8) Tracked leaders throughout, effort and headway 4 out, led soon after 2 out, jumped left last and ran on, won at Newbury 3m hdl Grd 2 (A) gd in Nov beating Baracouda (11-8) by 1 1/2l, 6 ran.
Mistanoora 10-1 (11-12) Led 1st, narrowly headed 3rd, stayed chasing leader, blundered 3 out, chased winner from 2 out, strong challenge flat, just held, 2nd of 11, 1 1/2l behind The Dark Lord (10-4) at Cheltenham 3m 1f lst hcp hdl (A) gd in Nov '04.
My Way de Solzen (FR) 4-1 (11-9) Held up, headway 9th, ridden 3 out, stayed on well towards finish, just failed, 2nd of 14, nk behind St Matthew (11-4) at Haydock 2m 7f hcp hdl (B) gs in Nov.
Neptune Collonges (FR) 6-4fav (11-0) Led 3rd, ridden clear before 2 out, kept on, won at Sandown 2m 4f nov hdl Grd 2 (A) hvy beating Massini's Maguire (11-0) by a distance, 4 ran.
Starzaan (IRE) 9-1 (11-10) Led, headed 4th, mistake and dropped rear 3 out, kept on again flat, 4th of 8, 11l behind Hasty Prince (11-4) at Sandown 2m hdl (B) gd in Apr '04.
