held up, smooth headway 2 out, ridden and every chance last, soon one pace
towards rear, not fluent 7th and 9th, never dangerous
chased leaders, ridden and weakened 3 out
tracked winner, not fluent 3rd, weakening when hung left last
in touch, ridden and weakened 3 out, pulled up after 2 out
in touch, slow 10th, weakened 2 out
made all, ridden 2 out, jumped left last, stayed on well
Boardroom Dancer was also engaged in the earlier Handicap, as well as having an entry at Towcester and as he takes up this option he must have every chance, but Flinders Chance runs here in preference to three other entries over the festive period and gets the vote. Charlie Mann's gelding has plenty of experience over the larger obstacles and finally got off the mark at the 11th attempt when justifying favouritism at Exeter last month. Not disgraced under a big weight behind Ballyrobert at Newbury he should be able to take care of Boardroom Dancer and company on these terms. The latter, a wide margin winner of a soft contest at Southwell, is open to improvement, but will need to, while winning pointer Moreluck may provide a stiffer test. Kim Bailey's gelding shaped with plenty of promise behind two useful sorts in Lilium De Cotte and Polar Red, over a trip which would have been plenty sharp enough for him. This trip will be more to his liking and he looks the one to give the selection most to do. Long Walk is sure to be all the better for his outing at Haydock last month, his first for 19 months and although this is his chasing debut, he is worthy of plenty of respect. Flying Trix has also shown ability in the past, but is lightly-raced in recent years and has clearly been difficult to train, so we are quite happy to side with Flinders Chance, who will appreciate this easier contest.
