towards rear, blundered 2nd, pulled up after 3rd
tracked leader, lost place from 8th, soon tailed off
tracked leaders in 3rd, went 2nd from 4th, ridden before 2 out, weakened before last
held up in touch, mistake 2 out, lost 2nd place from last, one pace
led to 4 out, weakened before last
in rear, headway before 4 out, led 4 out, ridden and rider lost whip before last, son clear, stayed on strongly
held up towards rear, pushed along and outpaced before 4 out, headway before 3 out, ridden before 2 out, chased winner last, no impression
BALL HOPPER is hardly a prolific winner but gained the easiest of victories over this trip at Plumpton last week and a 7lb penalty appears unlikely to prevent a quick follow up. Mini Muck got wound up before the start of her chasing debut at Kempton last month and made a mess of the first before falling at the second. She can be expected to do much better than that but Buckhorn Tom, who finished runner-up in this a year ago, probably finds the trip on the short side nowadays. The ex-Irish Royal Chief hardly ever wins though didn't run badly on his first start for new connections at Wincanton and should make some progress.
Mini Muck 17-2 (11-3) Held up towards rear, not fluent 1st, fell next, at Kempton 2m hcp (4) gd in Oct.
Buckhorn Tom 3-1fav (11-0) Ran in snatches, led until 1st, chased winner until before 8th (water), soon pushed along, 2nd again briefly approaching 11th, last and struggling 13th, left poor 4th approaching 4 out and 3rd at the last, 3rd of 5, dist behind Red Devil Lads (10-12) at Exeter 3m hcp (4) hvy in Mar.
Royal Chief (IRE) 6-1 (11-1) Chased leaders, hit 1st, every chance when hit 3 out, one pace in 3rd from next, 3rd of 6, 8l behind Squire Trelawney (11-1) at Wincanton 2m 4f hcp (4) gd in Oct.
Railway Storm (IRE) 8-1 (10-12) Led until 2nd, chased leaders, lost place after 8th, closed 10th, hampered 4 out, no impression on leaders, went 3rd flat, 3rd of 8, 10 3/4l behind Muckle Roe (11-11) at Worcester 2m 7f hcp (4) gs in Oct.
Ballyegan (IRE) 9-2 (11-4) Led, headed 6th, tracked winner until 9th, weakened next, tailed off, 4th of 5, dist behind Accessallareas (11-8) at Newton Abbot 2m hcp (5) sft in May.
Legion D'honneur (UAE) 16-1 (11-2) Tracked leader, ridden before 2 out, soon weakened, 6th of 16, at Newton Abbot 2m 6f hcp (5) gs in Aug.
Ball Hopper (IRE) 9-2 (10-10) Tracked leaders, 2nd 3 out, led before 2 out, soon clear, eased in closing stages, won at Plumpton 2m 4f hcp (5) gd in Nov beating Killabraher Cross (11-12) by 14l, 5 ran.
