chased leaders,ridden approaching 3 out,weakened next, blundered last
chased leader, led after 3rd, headed after 5 out, soon weakened
led, headed after 3rd, chased leader, led after 5 out, ridden and headed after 4 out, weakening in 4th when fell 3 out
chased leaders, hit 2nd, ridden and headway to chase winner from 3 out, weakened after 2 out
held up in rear, pushed along 5th, good headway next, led approaching 3 out, ridden clear 2 out,easily
With Giocomo likely to go to Ayr this should lie between the trio of Don Fernando, L'Aventure and Massac, with preference for the last mentioned. Martin Pipe's Don Fernando was the best of these over hurdles but he has not reproduced that this term and a combination of lack of experience over fences, an absence from the track and, most importantly, a softening of the ground puts us off him. The Paul Nicholls-trained L'Aventure was a winner over hurdles in France and opened his account for current connections when winning a weak race at Ludlow last time. This is tougher and we prefer to side with Massac. The five-year-old has some useful form in his native France and ran up to that when chasing home the high class Therealbandit at Cheltenham on his British debut. His trainer's runners always warrant respect and Massac gets the vote to open his British account.
