chased leaders until weakened before 3 out
close up, chased clear leader 5th, chased winner from 3 out and every chance until not quicken, run-in
held up, headway 6th, stayed on same pace from 3 out, no chance when blundered last
left to after first, chased clear leader to 5th, weakened after next
held up in mid-division, weakened after 5th
close up until weakened after 6th
jumped poorly and always in rear
mounted on course, in mid-division, until driver and lost place 5th, soon tailed off
took keen hold, held up in mid-division, headway from 6th, mistake and led 3 out, hard pressed and not fluent last, soon headed, rallied under pressure to lead final strides
raced keenly, held up in rear, headway after 3 out, joint leaders last, every chance run-in, not quicken near finish
held up in mid-division, headway and not fluent 6th, chased leading pair from 3 out, challenged and led soon after last, caught final strides
chased leaders, driven along and out-paced after 3 out, kept on under pressure from next
settled well in rear, mistaken 5th, always behind
pulled hard, led after 1st, blundered 2nd and soon clear, weakened and headed 3 out, soon tailed off
Astyanax and Predicament are both interesting runners on their first start over hurdles, and have to respected representing the stables of Nicky Henderson and Jonjo O'Neill respectively, but Talldark'n'andsome is better than he showed at Cheltenham last time and is taken to make the most of his experience. The selection, a 76-rated middle distance handicapper on the flat, made an encouraging start to his hurdling career when finding just the useful Kadount too good at Plumpton a year ago. Lightly raced on the level since, Nick Littmoden's gelding was a shade disappointing when pulled up on his return to hurdling at Cheltenham behind Chockdee. A subsequent effort in the November Handicap suggests that all is well with the gelding and the five-year-old's previous good form over timber gives him the nod. Astyanax, formerly with Sir Mark Prescott, now makes his debut for Nicky Henderson but would probably want further than this, while Predicament showed promise on the flat in France and could be anything but is probably best watched on his first start for Jonjo O'Neill. Adjawar has run with credit in two starts over timber this term and has to be respected along with Charlie Mann's German import Versus, who showed plenty of promise in three starts over hurdles last term. Talldark'n'andsome has the best form of those to have raced over hurdles though and he gets the vote in the hope that he can reproduce a similar level of form today.
