always prominent, ridden to lead approaching 2 out, stayed on well under pressure
held up in rear, not fluent 2nd, some late headway, never nearer
tracked leaders, driven 3 out, every chance approaching last, no extra flat
held up in touch, weakened approaching 9th, soon behind
led, headed before 2 out, soon weakened
Nonrunner
NUMIDE has been a useful dual purpose performer from Gary Moore and given he sets the standard based on his hurdles form we'll side with him to land this Beginners' Chase ahead of The Jazz Musician while there¿s no doubting that Den Of Iniquity is talented but is hard to assess in this field A winner around here in testing conditions in the past the selection has had the benefit of a competitive run over fences for which he should improve. He didn't exactly set the world alight that day but if he can live up to his hurdles mark he is the one they have to aim at. The Jazz Musician fell on his only start over fences in public when only getting to the second obstacle. He should have been well schooled in the mean time and on the pick of his form over timber is very much in with a chance. Den Of Inequity won on bottomless ground over course and distance on his only visit here to date. He was given a tough assignment on his debut over the big stuff and while this should be a more realistic level for him after just three hurdles starts he remains hard to judge up against the two we've just mentioned. The others in the field seem to have place claims at best so in a tricky race to judge we'll stick with the standard setting Numide.
Den of Iniquity 4-1 (11-1) Tracked leading trio, hit 7th, went 3rd next, challenged for 2nd at 9th, blundered next, weakened 3 out, mistake next, 4th of 5, 21l behind Bensalem (11-1) at Plumpton 2m 4f nov chs (3) hvy.
Maximix 11-1 (10-6) In touch, hit 4th, fell next, in a race won by Tritonville Lodge (11-12) at Fontwell 2m 4f hcp hdl 0-115 (4) gf in May, 11 ran.
Numide (FR) 3-1 (11-0) Held up in 4th, raced keenly, not fluent 1st, jumped slowly 6th, pushed along after 4 out, soon lost touch, tailed off, 4th of 5, well behind Dave's Dream (11-0) at Huntingdon 2m nov chs (3) gd.
Premier Bleu (FR) 33-1 (10-12) Led, headed 3 out, soon ridden and weakened, 4th of 7, 33l behind King Troy (11-5) at Bangor 2m 4f nov stks (4) gs in May.
The Jazz Musician (IRE) 7-1 (11-2) In touch when fell 2nd, in a race won by Khachaturian (11-2) at Kempton 3m beg chs (4) gs, 10 ran.
Orana Conti (FR) 16-1 (11-8) Behind, mistake 7th, pulled up 15th, in a race won by Ballygulleen (10-10) at Wincanton 3m 1f nov hcp chs 0-100 (4) gd in Oct, 8 ran.
She's Humble (IRE) 8-1 (10-13) Chased leaders, raced keenly, weakened 4 out, 6th of 10, 46l behind Midnight Haze (11-4) at Kempton 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gd.
