chased leaders in 3rd, hit 3 out, outpaced approaching 2 out, rallied last, stayed on to take 3rd towards finish
held up towards rear, ridden and weakened after 5 out
lead to 3rd, remained close up, led again 6th, hit 3 out, clear when blundered last, driven out
held up in rear, weakened approaching 14th, tailed off
held up in touch in 4th, joined winner 10th, ridden approaching 2 out, kept on on from last, no impression
held up in touch, chased leaders approaching 4 out, ridden approaching next, one pace from last
close up, led 3rd, headed 6th, mistake 11th, ridden approaching 2 out, soon weakened
Those to have raced over fences look beatable and perhaps THETWINCAMDRIFT can do the honours in taking care of Special Envoy and Ballydub. Alan King's gelding has two wins from eight starts, one of them coming here in a maiden hurdle over a furlong further. That form has worked out very nicely and it was no surprise to connections that he was then good enough to take second in graded company before finding Cheltenham too much too soon. He's been given time to recover ahead of this chasing debut and might just improve past the standard set by Special Envoy. Nicky Henderson's charge has shown a bit of promise over fences, taking a close third at Ffos Las before finding Fabalu too good last time. He sets the standard but hasn't always appealed as straight-forward and might find our selection too good, as may Emperor Concerto whose second to Massasoit reads well enough but that rival was well behind our pick over hurdles, giving us further cause for optimism. Ballydub has disappointed over fences as he's a 140-plus rated hurdler but has achieved a mark of just 128 in this sphere. Better may yet be to come but he's not convinced with his jumping and maybe he'll be seen to better effect in a handicap off this mark. Distiller is the other to make slight appeal particular should the ground not get any worse, but even the best of his efforts leave a little to find with our selection and he doesn't appeal as a chasing type. Alan King has found a winnable race for Thetwincamdrift on his fencing debut, so he gets our vote.
Ballydub (IRE) 11-2 (11-0) Prominent, led approaching 2nd until next, chased leaders, hit 13th, ridden after 15th, switched left approaching last, stayed on to take 2nd last stides, 2nd of 9, 1 1/2l behind Heathcliff (10-11) at Ludlow 3m beg chase (4) gd.
Distiller (IRE) 6-1 (11-0) Held up, not fluent 7th, headway next, badly hampered 12th and lost place, weakened after 3 out, 4th of 8, 19l behind Kildonnan (11-0) at Towcester 2m 6f beg chase (4) sft.
Emperor Concerto 8-1 (10-12) Tracked leaders, went 2nd 4th, challenged 11th, every chance 4 out, weakening when not fluent 2 out, 5th of 7, 29l behind Tazbar (11-8) at Doncaster 2m 3f nov stks (3) gs.
Saddlers Mount (IRE) 25-1 (11-0) Mid-division, headway approaching 4th, lost place 8th, 11th of 15, well behind Wayward Prince (11-0) at Doncaster 3m mdn hdl (4) gs.
Special Envoy (FR) 15-8 (11-0) Tracked winner, outpaced 2 out, kept on same pace, no chance with winner, 2nd of 5, 11l behind Fabalu (11-0) at Bangor 3m beg chase (4) hvy.
Thetwincamdrift (IRE) 16-1 (11-7) Held up rear, headway approaching 2 out, soon ridden, weakened before last, 8th of 17, 28l behind Weapon's Amnesty (11-7) at Cheltenham 3m nov hdl G1 (1) gs in Mar.
Yeoman Spirit (IRE) 40-1 (11-2) Prominent, led 3rd to 5th, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out, 7th of 14, 11l behind Double Vodka (11-2) at Catterick 2m 3f beg chs (4) sft in Dec.
