hit 6th, always in rear
in touch, not fluent 4th, went 2nd 8th, ridden to lead briefly 2 out, not fluent last, soon switched left, ran on well towards finish, just failed
tracked leaders, went 2nd 4 out, ridden after 3 out, led just after 2 out, all out
mid-division, driven and effort 9th, no progress from 4 out
mid-division, headway approaching 6th, ridden and weakened after 4 out
in touch, lost place approaching 3 out
held up in touch, lost place 7th, soon well behind, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
mid-division, not fluent 4th, weakened approaching 10th, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
in mid-division when mistake 1st, soon driven along, never near leaders
prominent, led 3rd to after 5th, weakened after 4 out
chased leaders, ridden along 7th, lost place before next
always behind
in rear, hit 6th, tailed off from 8th, pulled up before 9th
led to 2nd, pecked 5th, hit 6th, mistake 9th, soon weakened, behind when pulled up before 4 out
led 2nd to 3rd, lost place after 5th, soon in rear, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out
always behind, tailed off from 8th, pulled up before 2 out
held up towards rear, headway after 9th, 3 lengths 4th when not fluent 2 out, kept on same pace
This is tricky, with a narrow vote given to Jallastep ahead of Take The Oath and Miss Muscat. You would have to give Jallastep a chance here if he is able to reproduce his Perth effort last time when racing from out of the weights. Much as Miss Muscat is six pounds higher than for her Bangor win, she is not ruled out of things and should be sharper for her recent run. Take The Oath has form enough from just a handful of runs over the last 12 months to be considered, while Gipsy Cricketer is entitled to some thought based on his Southwell run last time, and Auditor can't be entirely ruled out if replicating his Taunton second of three runs ago. The Terrible Tenant seemed to show improvement last time, and has been raised accordingly, but that came over a longer trip and he still has something to prove off today's mark in terms of winning. The handicapper is being slow to drop Yassar following his Towcester win, while Fieldsofclover, who is not as good as his 2004 Irish form it would seem, still holds place claims on more-recent efforts. Fight The Feeling is not out of it based on his best novice efforts and, finally, the likes of San Marco, Westernmost, Young Tot, Mick Murphy and Colmcille carry the words that they are well-handicapped on the best of their hurdling for but that their chasing exploits lack something in comparison. All of which returns us to the selection, which is Jallastep.
Yassar (IRE) 14-1 (11-12) Led to 2nd, prominent, every chance 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out, 6th of 8, 46l behind Borehill Joker (11-5) at Towcester 2m hcp chs 0-95 (5) hvy in May.
Terrible Tenant 7-1 (10-2) Prominent, led 5th, ridden 2 out, headed soon after last, stayed on, 2nd of 15, 3/4l behind Sungates (10-7) at Hereford 3m 1f hcp chs 0-105 (4) gf.
Fieldsofclover (IRE) 7-4fav (10-9) Chased leaders, mistake 4th, went 2nd 8th, ridden 3 out, weakened approaching last, 2nd of 8, 15l behind Barton Flower (11-1) at Hereford 2m 3f nov hcp chs 0-105 (4) gf in May.
Fight The Feeling 14-1 (10-6) Soon mid-division, ridden 8th, headway approaching 4 out, one pace from 2 out, 4th of 12, 10l behind Eljay's Boy (11-4) at Worcester 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-100 (4) gd.
Jallastep (FR) 8-1 (9-9) Tracked leaders, headway 2 out, ridden to challenge last, stayed on under pressure flat, held towards finish, 3rd of 9, 3/4l behind Prince Of Pleasure (11-5) at Perth 2m hcp chs 0-115 (4) gf.
Miss Muscat 16-1 (9-13) In touch, headway approaching 4 out, weakened approaching last, 4th of 12, 22l behind Optimistic Harry (10-0) at Cartmel 2m 6f nov hcp hdl 0-95 (5) gs in May.
Take The Oath (IRE) 10-1 (10-0) Held up towards rear, ridden 7th, headway 3 out, stayed on one pace, 3rd of 9, 8l behind L'Oiseau (11-5) at Stratford 2m 1f hcp chs 0-105 (E) gd in Oct.
Gipsy Cricketer 16-1 (9-11) Behind, hit 3rd, headway 9th, effort 3 out, ridden and kept on to go 2nd towards finish, no impression, 2nd of 13, 3 1/2l behind Bob's Buster (11-12) at Southwell 2m 1f hcp chs 0-95 (5) gd.
