tracked leaders, challenged approaching 11th, led and hit 14th, clear briefly before 2 out, pressed last, driven and asserted final 150 yards
led until before 11th where not fluent, outpaced 13th, soon weakened, tailed off
not fluent, chased leaders, soon niggled along, mistake 3rd, outpaced 10th, behind 13th, tailed off
tracked leader, challenged 9th, led approaching 11th, headed 14th, rallied from 2 out to hold every chance last, no extra inside final 100 yards
held up in touch in rear, not always fluent, ridden in close 3rd after 14th, went 2nd when mistake 4 out, no extra final 100 yards
This is Minella Stars' eighth start over fences but he's yet to finish out of the frame and has won over hurdles and between the flags. He will surely gain an overdue success before much longer but may find one too good again here in RED NOT BLUE, who was challenging when falling two out at Southwell last time having won easily on his chase debut at Hereford - he still has plenty of scope over the larger obstacles. Suburban Bay has been almost as frustrating as Minella Stars but former point-to-pointers Alpha Native and Corso Palladio could be interesting if handling these stiffer obstacles.
Red Not Blue (IRE) 2-1fav (11-5) Mid-division, headway to chase leaders 12th, ridden to challenge 3 out, fell next, in a race won by Shoegazer (11-12) at Southwell 3m nov chs (4) gd in Jul, 11 ran.
Alpha Native 11-10 (12-3) (cp) held up; chsd ldr 3 out; led aft last; pushed out, won at Holnicote 3m ptp gs in May beating Nobody Tells Me (12-0) by 3/4l, 5 ran.
Corso Palladio (IRE) 13-2 (12-0) (tt) nvr nr to chall, 3rd of 5, 26l behind Glidewell (12-0) at Tabley 3m ptp gd in Jun.
Minella Stars (IRE) 4-1 (11-12) Tracked leader, led 4th, headed next, led after 8th, not fluent and headed 12th, no impression on winner flat, 2nd of 6, 10l behind Miss Saffron (10-6) at Worcester 2m 7f nov hcp chs (0-125) (3) gd in Jun.
Suburban Bay 7-2 (11-0) Held up, headway after 9th, went 2nd approaching 4 out, no chance with winner, 2nd of 9, 18l behind Danimix (10-11) at Worcester 2m 7f beg chase (4) gd in Jul.
