mid-division when fell 2nd
in touch, ridden 8th, stayed on one pace
behind, headway 3rd, joined leader 5th, ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened
always behind, pulled up before 3 out
led, not fluent and headed 8th, weakened next
prominent, led after 9th, ridden 3 out, all out flat
prominent, mistake 5th, weakened 7th
in touch, ridden after 9th, weakened before next
towards rear, headway 8th, ridden approaching 3 out, weakened approaching last
towards rear, ridden and headway 9th, weakened 3 out
held up in touch, ridden and every chance from 3 out, ran on
behind, headway approaching 9th, ridden and mistake 3 out, one pace
mid-division, lost place 6th, kept on from 3 out, not trouble leaders
A big field for the opener, but as far as punting is concerned we can narrow this down to a handful. Paul Nicholls-trained Howdydoody is clearly one to respect after a soft ground Taunton success last time out, but he has been given a tough task on his handicap debut and as he is also unproven on decent ground he is overlooked here. Instead our vote goes to the hat-trick seeking Octagonal. The six-year-old has bags of hurdling experience in big fields in his native Ireland and makes his English debut here. Over a stone higher than when winning on his penultimate start at Roscommon, he gets the good ground he loves here and should be able to see out the trip and complete the hat-trick. Prince De Galles is not without a chance, based on his course and distance success in similar conditions back in November 2000. However, he has had plenty of chances off similar marks since then and not managed a repeat, though he did score off 8lb lower on his penultimate start. A win looks a big ask here though. Joly Bois is proving a bit expensive to follow and is best watched until showing the sort of promise that keeps attracting money, while Robber looks to be on a fair mark for his handicap debut and if he handles the ground then he should be thereabouts. Watch for any market support.
