chased leader, led 6th, headed 4 out, soon ridden, stayed on flat
mid-division, ridden approaching 7th, weakened 3 out
pulled hard, prominent, ridden 4 out, weakened and mistake next
held up, ridden and not fluent 7th, mistake 3 out, stayed on from 2 out, n.ner
mid-division, ridden and weakened after 6th, behind when pulled up before 7th
always behind, tailed off and pulled up before 6th
towards rear, ridden and headway 4 out, kept on one pace
mid-division, headway approaching 6th, ridden approaching 3 out, kept on one pace
led to 6th, weakened quickly, tailed off and pulled up before 7th
in touch, ridden approaching 7th, soon weakened, behind when pulled up before 3 out
behind, headway 6th, ridden 3 out, weakened next
mid-division, ridden 7th, no impression
always towards rear
mid-division, headway 3 out, ridden approaching next, soon one paced
mid-division, ridden 7th, not fluent and weakened next
in touch, led 4 out, soon clear, comfortably
always behind, tailed off and pulled up before 7th
m.d, rdn 6th, sn wknd, t.o and p.u bf nxt
With the ground churned up by the time the finale is run, stamina is definitely a key issue here. Wartorn has yet to open his account in eight starts, but was only beaten in a photo at Taunton the time before last, and will relish the conditions. Martin Pipe and Tony McCoy team up with Peter's Two Fun who was well beaten at Exeter, with another of his opponents, Fionnula's Rainbow, some way ahead. Bold Cardowan has been described by John Berry as being a bit of a thinker, but has the ability to win as he proved at Newcastle in April when partnered by Richard Guest, who also coaxed him home at Hexham. Even 'Guesty' experienced the gelding's dark side subsequently, but he seemed to go well enough for Brian Murphy when third here in December and has a squeak over the longer trip if he puts his best hoof forward. Richard Johnson is on Great Crusader for the first time but he will do well to bring about the 11 year-old's third win over hurdles as the other two were selling contests. One that could go well at a decent price is Estupendo. This full brother to Spendid is only lightly raced and ran well when fourth in a heavy ground maiden at Folkestone last time behind the highly rated Maybe The Business. That form was made to look even better when the third home, Bob Ar Aghaidh, was just touched off at Chepstow on Friday. That was only his third outing over timber, and Estupendo can only get better.
