held up, went 2nd 3rd, led 2 out, left clear last, easily
held up, disputed 2nd from 10th, hit 12th, led after 3 out, headed 2 out, every chance when fell last
jumped right, led and soon well clear, headed after 3 out, soon weakened, left 2nd last
held up, lost touch from 10th
Decent hurdler Mr Ed made a highly satisfactory chasing debut when readily landing a novices' chase at Perth last month and Peter Bowen's gelding is hard to oppose in a contest where opposition is thin on the ground with Sweet Diversion rated the only serious danger. Neither Mr Mighty nor Saposcat have shown any sign of ability so far and would surely need both of the two market rivals to fail to complete to have any chance of landing the odds. The Paul Nicholls-trained Sweet Diversion was useful over hurdles and has already shown that he is at least as good over the larger obstacles with dual successes over course and distance, latterly when beating Martin Pipe's Mioche d'Estruval by eight lengths after main rival Celtic Boy fell at the second last. The son of Carroll House has the edge on experience over Mr Ed but Peter Bowen's gelding, who was rated 148 at his best over hurdles, jumped fluently on his chasing bow at Perth and a reproduction of that performance should suffice for the seven-year-old.
Sweet Diversion (IRE) 9-4 (11-6) Always prominent, with leader when blundered and left clear 2 out, ridden out, won at Stratford 3m nov chs (D) gd in Jun beating Mioche d'Estruval (11-0) by 8l, 6 ran.
Mr Ed (IRE) 2-7fav (11-0) Held up, smooth headway approaching 4 out, went 2nd approaching 3 out, led 2 out, easily, won at Perth 3m nov chs (D) gd in Jun beating Lord Of Gortmerron (11-0) by 8l, 9 ran.
Mr Mighty (IRE) 50-1 (11-7) Soon led and clear, blundered 16th, headed and weakened next, 8th of 13, 27l behind Good Boy (12-0) at Huntingdon 3m hts chs (H) gf in May '03.
Saposcat (IRE) 100-1 (10-5) Behind from 4th, tailed off, 13th of 16, well behind Burning Truth (11-5) at Worcester 2m sll hdl (G) gf in Jun.
