led to 2nd, led again 3rd, headed and hit 2 out, ridden and one pace
held up in touch, ridden after 5th, weakened approaching 3 out, tailed off
prominent, chased leader 4th until approaching 3 out, soon weakened
held up, ridden after 4th, soon struggling, plugged on to take poor 3rd near finish
held up in touch, not fluent 5th, headway to chase leader approaching 3 out, soon ridden, led 2 out, stayed on
tracked leader, led 2nd until not fluent 3rd, jumped slowly 4th, soon weakened, tailed off
Dramatic Quest made a winning return to hurdles when landing a similar contest at Stratford last month and is taken to follow up at the main expense of The Last Mohican and Wild Power. The last mentioned has been a consistent performer over fences recently and is interesting back over timber for the first time since the summer. He makes more appeal than the ex-Martin Pipe inmate Forbearing who is likely to struggle to give weight away all round. Misbehaviour is held by The Last Mohican on running at Fakenham last time and Paul Howling's gelding should again have his measure. This looks a better race than the Fakenham one though and for the winner we side with Dramatic Quest. The Ian Williams-trained gelding had been running on the flat prior to his win at Stratford so the "bounce" theory should not be a problem and on ground that suits he has an obvious chance of following up.
