lost touch after 4th, soon well behind, left tailed off 3rd before 2 out
jumped well, made all, clear approaching 2 out, easily
tracked winner, not fluent 5th, ridden after 3 out, soon beaten
tracked leaders, lost touch after 3 out, well behind in tired 3rd when pulled up before 2 out
Nonrunner
There are question marks against all the principals here and the market will probably prove the best guide. MR GARDNER beat Fistral Beach by 32 lengths in a maiden hurdle at Newbury in March 2009 and is less exposed than his rivals. Nicky Henderson is likely to have given him plenty of work and he's preferred to Patsy Finnegan, who returns from a similar break and is the choice of Choc Thornton ahead of stablemate Iroquois Warrior. Platin Grounds was arguably the best of these over timber but this will be his first start since pulling up at Aintree's Grand National meeting in 2008.
Bemused (IRE) 100-1 (10-12) Always in rear, reminders after 6th, soon lost touch, tailed off, 8th of 10, well behind On Trend (10-12) at Lingfield 2m 3f NH nov hdl 4-6yo (4) sft in Nov.
Mr Gardner (IRE) 8-1 (11-2) Made all, set strong pace, hit 3 out, clear when pecked next, kept on strongly unchallenged, won at Newbury 2m 5f mdn hdl (3) gd in Mar '09 beating Fistral Beach (11-2) by 32l, 9 ran.
Patsy Finnegan 7-4fav (11-11) Held up, headway 3 out, ridden 2 out, led approaching last, ridden out, won at Kempton 2m 5f hcp hdl 0-125 (3) gd in Mar '09 beating Smuglin (10-6) by 3 1/2l, 7 ran.
Platin Grounds (GER) 22-1 (11-0) Mid-division, weakened from 4 out, pulled up before 2 out, in a race won by Pearl King (10-10) at Aintree 2m Listed hcp hdl (1) gd in Apr '08, 21 ran.
Iroquois Warrior (IRE) 6-1 (11-1) Tracked leading pair, lost 3rd at 10th, ridden and struggling when hit next, tailed off, last of 5, 38l behind Pocket Aces (11-1) at Folkestone 2m 5f nov ch 0-125 (3) gs in Nov '09.
