tracking leaders when stumbled on bend before 2nd, immediately pulled up (dismounted)
held up, steady progress from 5th, chased winner from 7th, soon driven along, weakened 3 out, lost 2nd before last
behind, hit 6th, stayed on from 4 out, went 2nd approaching last, never any chance with winner
chased leaders, hit 2nd, driven along from 7th, weakened before 3 out
tracked winner, hit 2nd, reminders 5th, fell 8th
made all at good pace, mistake 8th, well clear from 4 out, heavily eased run in
Clearly In Motion is the one to beat, with Highland Chief and River Amora set to chase him home. If Clearly In Motion turns in the same sort of performance as he did at Taunton 17-days ago, then Charlie Mann can expect to reap immediate dividends with the ex-Irish chaser. Noel Fehily was on board when the nine-year-old opened his account that day, and was obviously impressed, given that he has now switched stables. Although it was only a moderate selling affair that he collected, this does not in truth look much better, and so he should be capable of following up off what still appears to be a fair mark. Highland Chief has plenty of weight for what he has achieved so far, but will come on for his Towcester reappearance, while River Amora, a past course-and-distance winner, stayed on from the rear here in June and will perhaps need this, and maybe a longer trip these days. All in all, this is there for the taking, and Clearly In Motion has leading claims of making his first outing for new connections a winning one.
Pauntley Gofa 33-1 (10-3) Mid-division, headway 5th, weakened after 13th, 8th of 10, well behind Toulouse (11-12) at Ludlow 2m 4f hcp chs 0-115 (4) gd in Mar.
Highland Chief (IRE) 6-1 (11-0) Mid-division, under pressure 4 out, weakened 2 out, 7th of 10, 35l behind Ice Melted (11-4) at Towcester 2m 3f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gs in Oct.
Clearly In Motion (IRE) 7-2 (11-7) Prominent, led on bit 4 out, ridden 3 out, jumped left 2 out, kept on, won at Taunton 2m 3f sll hcp chs 0-95 (5) gd in Oct beating Captain O'Neill (10-3) by 6l, 7 ran.
Gondolin (IRE) 50-1 (10-9) With leader until 6th, jumped slowly 11th and soon weakened, tailed off when pulled up 3 out in race won by Notanotherdonkey (10-13) at Cheltenham 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gs in Oct, 15 ran.
Trackattack 16-1 (10-12) Chased leaders, ridden after 7th, mistake and weakened 3 out, 6th of 12, 21l behind Tanning (10-5) at Towcester 2m 3f sll hdl (5) gd in Oct.
River Amora (IRE) 12-1 (10-0) Mid-division, outpaced after 8th, stayed on again from 3 out, 5th of 14, 16l behind Twentytwosilver (10-10) at Fontwell 2m 2f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gf in Jun.