prominent, ridden 7th, one pace from 3 out
held up towards rear, ridden 7th, weakened approaching 3 out
in touch, ridden 7th, soon weakened, pulled up before 3 out
prominent, reminders 4th, weakened before 7th, pulled up before 3 out
held up in mid-division, ridden 6th, soon weakened, pulled up before 2 out
led to 3rd, headway after 6th, led bend approaching 3 out, ridden approaching last, edged right flat, readily
prominent, lost touch before 5th, pulled up before 6th
always behind, pulled up after 6th
in touch, ridden after 7th, stayed to go distance 3rd approaching last
prominent, headway after 5th and chased leaders, ridden approaching 7th, one pace
held up in touch, ridden 5th, weakened before 7th
led after 3rd, clear after 4th, hit 7th, stayed on same pace from 3 out
mid-division, some headway 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out
held up mid-division, headway after 7th, ridden approaching 3 out and chased winner, stayed on well from 2 out, not pace of winner
held up last, jumped slowly and lost touch 4th, no impression
held up towards rear, ridden after 6th, soon weakened, pulled up before 3 out
held up in mid-division, ridden 6th, soon weakened
mid-division, ridden and behind from 4th, held off
Sandown winner Murphy's Quest sets a decent standard in this novices' hurdle but the Lady Herries-trained gelding may struggle to follow up under his penalty and preference is for Morson Boy, who gets the vote ahead of both Secret Ploy and Gold Medallist. The last mentioned was a decent stayer on the flat with David Elsworth and is an interesting recruit to the novice hurdling ranks but may want a stiffer test of stamina and has yet to prove his effectiveness over timber. With Jonathan Geake having been Toby Balding's assistant before taking over his licence, Keltic Rock is bound to be popular but needs to step up on the form of course seconds in a bumper and over hurdles to win this. Martin Pipe's Yes My Lord cannot be ruled out lightly given his connections but faces no easy task on his rules debut and of greater interest is Hugh Morrison's Secret Ploy. A triple bumper winner, he lost no caste in defeat on his hurdling debut at Newbury last month and should have learned from that effort. Henrietta Knight's Ludlow winner King Killone and fellow bumper scorers Debatable and Gaelic Music are others to consider in a competitive contest but the vote goes to Morson Boy. Admittedly the Paul Nicholls-trained gelding has been well beaten in both his starts over hurdles since moving from Mark Johnston's stable but they were in hot races and the four-year-old was not given the most energetic of rides by Ruby Walsh at Newbury last time. The son of Lear Fan should have come on a bundle for those two starts and is taken to show the necessary improvement to win this.
