led, not fluent 7th, mistake 13th, not fluent 4 out, ridden and headed approaching last, not pace of winner
tracked leader until 5th, reminders, slow next, not fluent 12th, soon lost touch, tailed off
tracked leader from 5th, pecked 4 out, ridden and every chance 2 out, soon outpaced, mistake last
held up behind leaders, went 3rd after 14th, joined leaders 2 out, quicken to lead when pecked last, readily
held up in last pair, mistake 4th, blundered 8th, reminders after 12th, weakened 16th, tailed off
Disappointingly just the five runners line up for the opener on the card at Cheltenham but there is plenty of quality among them with BALLYFITZ, just preferred to What A Friend and Tot O'Whiskey. Malcolm Jefferson's gelding has already shown that he is better over fences than he was over hurdles having not been out of the first two in any of his three starts and running a super race when chasing home Fassel in a decent graduation chase at Carlisle last month. Proven over the trip, he has more solid claims than Don McCain's Rightway Star who looks to be going the right way but needs to improve to trouble the judge. Mr Parson looks to be some way out of his depth and of more interest may be the Paul Nicholls-trained What A Friend. The five-year-old showed good form over hurdles last term and made a pleasing start to his chasing career when landing a beginners' chase at Uttoxeter at the end of October. There should be more to come from the son of Alflora but Ballyfitz sets a decent standard judged by his victory over another Nicholls inmate Big Fella Thanks here last month and a reproduction of that form may well suffice under his penalty.
Ballyfitz 4-1 (11-7) Made all, not fluent 15th, hit 3 out, outstayed rivals 2 out, pushed out, won at Cheltenham 3m nov chs (2) sft in Nov beating Big Fella Thanks (10-13) by 11l, 7 ran.
Rightway Star (IRE) 14-1 (11-2) In touch, led 3 out, headed when hit last, rallied to regain lead flat, all out, won at Haydock 2m 4f beg chs (4) gd in Nov beating Naiad du Misselot (11-2) by a hd, 7 ran.
Tot O'Whiskey 11-8fav (11-6) Prominent, led 3 out, driven and headed near line, 2nd of 6, hd behind Faasel (11-2) at Carlisle 2m 5f chs (2) hvy in Nov.
What A Friend 9-4 (11-4) Chased clear leading pair, closed 10th, went 2nd 13th, slight lead 2 out, shaken up to assert flat, stayed on, won at Uttoxeter 3m beg chs (4) gs in Oct beating Carruthers (11-4) by 2l, 7 ran.
Mr Parson (IRE) 16-1 (10-0) Towards rear, raced wide, ridden and effort 10th, hampered next, weakened 14th, 8th of 9, well behind Plum Pudding (11-5) at Towcester 3m hcp chs 0-100 (4) sft in Nov.
