mid-division, headway after 3rd, led before 3 out, edged left approaching last, edged left flat, headed narrowly towards finish, led again close home
held up in rear, headway on outside before 5th, challenged 3 out, 3rd and unable to quicken not much room and switched right flat, no extra close home
tracked leaders on outside, every chance 3 out, soon outpaced, rallied before last, led narrowly towards finish, headed close home
mid-division, hit 3rd, closed next, not fluent 5th, lost place when mistake 3 out, soon weakened
held up in rear, took keen hold, headway approaching 5th, lost place before 3 out, soon weakened
tracked leaders on inside, lost place before 4th, mistake and behind next, pulled up before 3 out
took keen hold, prominent, led 4th, headed before 3 out, weakened approaching next
mid-division, pushed along in touch after 4th, weakened before 2 out
led, headed before 4th, weakened approaching 3 out
tracked leaders, challenged after 3rd, led before next, soon headed and jumped slowly at hurdle, outpaced next, went 4th and stayed on from 2 out, no impression
Being Global, Nafaath, Hill Fort and SARPECH have all won over hurdles this year and all can effectively race off lower marks today if their riders allowances are taken into account. The latter makes most appeal of that quartet on last week’s fifth at Cheltenham and Charlie Longsdon’s charge gets the nod. A Boy Named Suzi has slipped down the weights and was placed in a higher grade at Stratford back in May while Baby Jake was successful at Cartmel during the summer on an earlier trip over from Ireland.
Baby Jake (IRE) 14-1 (11-12) Held up in rear, progress into 5th 4 out, ridden in 4th entering straight, no impression 2 out, kept on one pace, 4th of 8, 11 1/2l behind Ball D'arc (11-12) at Wexford 2m gd in Oct.
A Boy Named Suzi 16-1 (10-9) Held up in touch in rear, headway 5th, outpaced after 2 out, stayed on to take 3rd last, no impression on winner, 3rd of 8, 5 3/4l behind Moabit (10-5) at Stratford 2m hcp (2) gs in May.
Ascendant 50-1 (10-6) Towards rear, behind when hampered 4 out, not fluent 3 out, pulled up before 2 out, at Worcester 2m 4f hcp (2) gs in Jun.
Hill Fort 20-1 (11-12) Held up, in rear, ridden and modest headway when mistake normal 3 out, weakened after next, 6th of 7, dist behind Diamond Rock (10-8) at Stratford 2m 3f hcp (3) gd in Oct.
Windy Writer (IRE) 16-1 (11-7) Always towards rear, 8th of 10, dist behind Samtu (11-10) at Bangor 2m 1f hcp (4) gd in Apr.
Cosmic Statesman 10-1 (11-12) Led, headed 3rd, tracked leaders, pushed along and lost place 3 out, hit next, 6th of 7, dist behind Vivas (11-12) at Market Rasen 2m 3f hcp (4) gd in Nov.
Sarpech (IRE) 33-1 (10-12) Mid-division, headway and in touch on outside when not fluent 2 out, effort when short of room towards stands side before last, kept on same pace, 5th of 18, 9l behind Wildmoor Boy (10-3) at Cheltenham 2m hcp (3) gd in Nov.
Grey Life 20-1 (11-10) Keen, prominent, led 3rd, ridden and headed before 2 out, weakened last, 4th of 7, 17l behind Vivas (11-12) at Market Rasen 2m 3f hcp (4) gd in Nov.
Being Global (FR) 7-1 (11-2) Tracked leaders, 2nd before 7th, not fluent 2 out (normal 3 out), no impression on winner, one pace, 3rd of 14, 23 3/4l behind Carrigkerry (11-1) at Southwell 2m 4f hcp (4) gd in May.
Nafaath (IRE) 11-2 (11-10) Chased leaders, not fluent 2nd, pushed along and outpaced after 6h, weakened before next, plugged on into modest 4th towards finish, 4th of 7, 12l behind Weapon Of Choice (11-9) at Musselburgh 2m hcp (4) gd in Nov.
