towards rear, headway 4th, reminders 6th, ridden, weakening when mistake 15th, pulled up before 3 out
towards rear, reminders 6th, pulled up before 4 out
tracked leaders, chased leader 9th, weakened 4 out
always in rear, pulled up before 4 out
held up, jumped left, behind from 5th, pulled up before 11th
mid-division, lost place 4th, ridden 6th, weakened 11th, pulled up before 12th
mid-division, ridden, weakened 4 out
in touch, jumped slowly 9th, weakened 11th, pulled up before 2 out
mid-division, mistake 3rd, jumped left next, ridden when mistake 7th, pulled up before 14th
towards rear, stayed on from 4 out
mid-division, ridden 14th, stayed on from 4 out, led approaching last, kept on
tracked leaders, chased clear leader approaching 4 out, kept on
led, soon clear, drew further clear 12th, ridden 3 out, weakening when blundered 2 out, headed, blundered again last
in touch, lost place 9th, plugged on
in touch, ridden, weakened after 11th
tracked leaders, ridden, weakened 6 out, pulled up before 4 out
always in rear, lost touch 11th, pulled up before next
This is a modest looking affair and Commercial Express is taken to defy top-weight, Gunship and Peveril Pride look to be the main rivals. David Pipe's lightly raced gelding made a very pleasing start to his chase career when finishing second to King Of Gothland in a stronger race at Huntingdon. He is open to any amount of improvement and looks the best option. Young Dude was behind the selection in that contest and will find it hard to reverse the form at today's weights. So we look elsewhere for the dangers and Peveril Pride has to be a threat having won nicely last time at Fontwell. Meanwhile Gunship hails from a top yard and certainly looks well treated on the pick of his hurdles form. Recent winner Jacarado is another to consider for each-way purposes, but our idea of the winner is Commercial Express.
Commercial Express (IRE) 13-2 (11-11) Led 1st, remained prominent, chased leader after 12th, mistake 3 out, left in lead 2 out, headed last, no extra, 2nd of 12, 12l behind King of Gothland (11-12) at Huntingdon 3m hcp chs 0-100 (4) gs in Dec.
Young Dude (IRE) 10-1 (11-1) Mistakes, tracked leaders, reminders and lost place 3rd, ridden 8th, headway 10th, eased and beaten after 3 out, 3rd of 12, 14l behind King of Gothland (11-12) at Huntingdon 3m hcp chs 0-100 (4) gs in Dec.
Lusaka De Pembo (FR) 8-1 (11-11) Towards rear, mistake 6th, ridden next, plugged on, 8th of 17, 29l behind Anshabil (11-9) at Hereford 2m 3f hcp chs 0-95 (5) sft in Dec.
Bridge Flight (IRE) 9-1 (10-9) Held up, not fluent 1st, blundered 2nd, behind 7th, hit 9th, tailed off when pulled up at the 12th in race won by Solid As A Rock (10-7) at Towcester 3m chs 0-90 (5) sft in Dec, 13 ran.
Step Perfect (USA) 100-1 (10-9) Led after 1st, mistake and headed 5th, soon weakened, 12th of 16, well behind Anglicisme (10-12) at Haydock 2m 4f nov hdl (4) hvy in Dec.
Peddars Way 14-1 (10-13) Held up in rear, behind when pulled up 5 out in race won by Ferimon (11-2) at Huntingdon 3m nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gs in Dec, 17 ran.
Jacarado (IRE) 11-2 (10-5) Prominent, jumped slowly 4 out, soon ridden, led approaching 2 out, jumped right last, stayed on flat, won at Towcester 2m 3f hcp chs 0-100 (4) sft in Dec beating Monsieur Georges (10-6) by 4l, 8 ran.
Jobsworth (IRE) 8-1 (10-11) Tracked leaders, hit 8th, ridden after 3 out, weakened after next, 3rd of 8, 16l behind Swift Sailor (11-12) at Fontwell 2m 6f nov hcp hdl 0-95 (5) gd in Nov.
Silver Samuel (NZ) 100-1 (11-0) Not jumped well, soon behind, tailed off from 9th, 4th of 5, well behind Limerick Boy (11-7) at Haydock 2m 6f Grad Ch (2) hvy in Dec.
Casalani (IRE) 33-1 (10-4) Mid-division, mistake 13th, weakened 15th, behind when pulled up 2 out in race won by Ferimon (11-2) at Huntingdon 3m nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gs in Dec, 17 ran.
Tank Buster 12-1 (10-12) Always behind, 7th of 13, 46l behind Solid As A Rock (10-7) at Towcester 3m chs 0-90 (5) sft in Dec.
Peveril Pride 5-1 (9-13) Always prominent, led 2nd until 4th, led again 4 out, drew clear from next, hit last, comfortably, won at Fontwell 3m 2f hcp chs 0-95 (5) sft in Dec beating Stormy Skye (11-12) by 9l, 7 ran.
Gunship (IRE) 3-1fav (10-4) Held up mid-division, headway 9th, ridden 10th, weakened 13th, 6th of 13, 47l behind Zimbabwe (9-11) at Exeter 2m 7f nov hcp chs 0-105 (4) sft in Dec.
Alfa Sunrise 20-1 (10-1) In touch, mistake 7th, weakened 9th and mistake next, 10th of 15, well behind Before Dark (11-0) at Hereford 3m 2f hcp hdl 0-120 (3) sft in Dec.
Little Villain (IRE) 7-1 (10-4) Prominent, led 4th, cleared 10th, headed after 3 out, soon beaten, 2nd of 7, 15l behind Money Line (11-0) at Towcester 2m 6f nov chs (4) sft in Dec.
Supremely Red (IRE) 20-1 (9-13) In rear, reminders 8th, in rear and struggling 11th, tailed off when pulled up 3 out in race won by Star Glow (10-10) at Lingfield 3m hcp chs 0-95 (5) hvy, 14 ran.
Little Word 18-1 (9-9) Chased leaders, lost place when mistake and unseated rider at the 7th in race won by Tradingup (10-3) at Towcester 3m cnd hcp chs (5) hvy in Nov, 11 ran.
