mid-division, headway approaching 6th, chased winner and edged left approaching 2 out, challenged last, every chance flat, not quicken towards finish
mid-division, not fluent 4th, driven along from 5th, lost touch with leading quartet from 6th, tailed off
not fluent, always well behind, mistake last, tailed off
tracked leader, not fluent 3 out, led approaching 2 out, pressed from last, ran on well
prominent, pushed along approaching 3 out, ridden before 2 out, 3rd and one pace when not fluent last
led, not fluent 3rd, ridden and headed approaching 2 out, weakening when fell 2 out
not fluent 1st, held up towards rear, behind from after 5th
mistakes, always behind, tailed off
chased leaders, reminder after 5th, weakening when mistake 6th, blundered 3 out, tailed off
Soprano showed ability on the flat in Germany and also over hurdles in Italy before stepping on his first start for Jonjo O'Neill when a ready winner at Worcester earlier this month; however, it is difficult to know how good that form is and a safer bet looks to be Ingratitude with Habanero rated the best of the rest. The selection was a useful miler on the flat and has shown progressive form since being switched to hurdles, running out the decent winner of a similar contest at Huntingdon last time. A reproduction of that effort may be enough to see Nicky Henderson's gelding follow up and he gets the vote. Babe Maccool was of similar ability on the flat to Ingratitude when with Barry Hills and it will be interesting to see what he achieves at this game with David Pipe, while Deep Purple did not progress as much as may have been anticipated on the level but may do better now sent hurdling by Evan Williams. Alan King's Habanero looks to be going the right way judged by his recent success at Wetherby but Ingratitude looks the pick on all known form and he is preferred.
Ingratitude (IRE) 4-6fav (11-2) Held up mid-division, headway 5th, chased leaders 3 out, led before next, ridden out, won at Huntingdon 2m nov hdl (4) gd beating Eumene (10-5) by 3l, 11 ran.
Babe Maccool (IRE) 5-1 (9-5) Mid-division, ridden 3f out, not trouble leaders, 9th of 12, 15l behind High Command (9-5) at Yarmouth 1m 2f hcp 0-90 (3) gf in Sept (Flat).
Da Bookie (IRE) 22-1 (10-12) Always behind, tailed off halfway, last of 14, well behind Presentandcorrect (11-5) at Bangor 2m 1f nov hdl (4) gd.
Deep Purple 33-1 (9-7) Keen hold tracking leaders, hard ridden and weakened over 2f out, 15th of 17, 12l behind Bauer (9-0) at Newbury 1m 3f hcp 0-85 (4) gd in Sept (Flat).
Habanero 2-1 (10-11) Held up mid-division, headway 4 out, went 2nd after next, ridden 2 out, led after last, stayed on well, won at Wetherby 2m cnd nov hdl (4) gf beating Helvetio (11-0) by 5l, 12 ran.
Halfway Cut 14-1 (11-0) Tracked leaders, mistake 3 out, soon outpaced, weakened next, 7th of 14, 23l behind Olmeto Collonges (11-0) at Uttoxeter 2m nov hdl (4) gs.
Western Roots 12-1 (10-12) Always behind, 8th of 14, well behind Smart Boy Prince (11-1) at Market Rasen 2m 1f mdn hdl (E) gd in Aug '05.
Soprano (GER) 8-15fav (11-2) In touch, went 2nd after 5th, led last, pushed clear, eased towards finish, won at Worcester 2m mdn hdl (5) gf beating Look of Eagles (10-9) by 6l, 16 ran.
