led, mistakes 7th and 8th, headed after 3 out, beaten when blundered 2 out, soon weakened, mistake last
held up towards rear, not fluent and pushed along 4 out, outpaced when not fluent next, went 4th last and stayed on flat
chased leaders, challenged after 3 out, led next, driven out
tracked leader, led after 3 out, headed next, no extra last
tracked leaders, not fluent 3 out, soon ridden and weakened
tracked leaders, went 2nd after 2 out, stayed on flat, unable to challenge winner
held up in rear, ridden and weakened before 3 out, pulled up before next
held up towards rear, not fluent 8th, headway from 3 out, went 3rd approaching last, stayed on
Bucking The Trend was in good form over fences in the spring and is probably fairly treated back over timber, though would have preferred softer going. Optimistic Bias came right back to form at Sedgefield and is only a pound higher so definitely goes on the short-list. Unanimite didn't jump well on his reappearance at Newton Abbot and was soon tailed off but he's better than that and Mont Choisy was going well around this time last year. SOME ARE LUCKY (NAP) had just four runs last season, winning a maiden at Southwell and finished second over 3m at Ayr. There should be plenty more to come from Tom George's progressive five-year-old.
Mont Choisy (FR) 6-4fav (11-12) Led, headed before 5th, remained close up, not fluent 7th, ridden and lost place before 3 out, soon behind, tailed off when left 4th at last, 4th of 6, dist behind Battle Dust (10-12) at Chepstow 3m (4) hvy in Dec.
Unanimite (FR) 9-2 (10-10) Held up, pushed along after 4th, driven before 7th, soon weakened, 7th of 8, dist behind Golden Doyen (10-11) at Newton Abbot 2m 6f hcp (2) gf in Aug.
Bucking The Trend 7-1 (10-3) Prominent, led 3rd, soon headed, led before 9th, not fluent 12th or 4 out, headed 3 out, no impression on winner before last, stayed on same pace, 2nd of 11, 9l behind Al Co (10-2) at Aintree 3m 1f hcp (2) gd in May.
Optimistic Bias (IRE) 11-2 (11-10) Tracked leader, left in lead 3 out, soon pressed, ridden before last, kept on under pressure flat, just held on, won at Sedgefield 3m 3f hcp (3) gd in Sep beating Skylander (11-6) by hd, 7 ran.
Souriyan (FR) 9-2 (10-12) Held up towards rear, slow 2nd, mistake 9th, struggling after next, blundered 14th, soon beaten, 6th of 7, dist behind Chase The Wind (10-12) at Wetherby 3m (4) gd in May.
Some Are Lucky (IRE) 4-1 (11-12) Held up towards rear, headway 4 out, went 2nd before 3 out, soon led, headed before last, kept on same pace, 2nd of 10, 4 1/2l behind Arctic Court (11-2) at Ayr 3m hcp (3) sft in Apr.
Bowie (IRE) 20-1 (11-8) Held up towards rear, outpaced before 3 out, weakened before 2 out, 9th of 13, 28 3/4l behind Lord Wishes (11-7) at Wetherby 2m 5f hcp (3) gd in Oct.
Tantamount 25-1 (11-1) Towards rear, pushed along when brought down 2 out, at Galway 3m hcp gd in Jul.
