with leader, carried slightly right 11th, narrow lead on inside 3 out, headed well before last, ridden and rallied flat, always held
always last, ridden and beaten when hit 3 out
made most, mistake 9th, jumped right 11th, narrowly headed 3 out, rallied to regain lead well before last, ridden and stayed on gamely flat
Disappointingly just the three runners line up for this novices' chase and all three have claims but Nigel Twiston-Davies has his team in good form right now and, having given the impression that he would come on for the run behind Fair Along at Wetherby last month, PETTIFOUR looks the pick of the trio ahead of Toby Jug and Kanpai. John O'Shea's gelding showed a decent level of form over hurdles three years ago and has had his problems since then but he resumed winning ways when landing a novices' chase in good fashion at Stratford last month and he has to be respected. Sarah Humphrey's Toby Jug has won each of his last three starts and is going the right way but if Pettifour's jumping holds up then he will be tough to beat.
Toby Jug 3-1fav (11-12) Mid-division, headway 16th, soon chasing leaders, led after 2 out, soon clear, won at Wincanton 3m 3f hcp chs 0-140 (2) gd in Oct beating Bowleaze (11-5) by 7l, 10 ran.
Kanpai (IRE) 15-2 (10-5) Tracked leaders, headway 4 out, led approaching last, left clear last, won at Stratford 2m 7f nov stks (3) gf in Oct beating Bushwacker (10-5) by 18l, 6 ran.
Pettifour (IRE) 11-10fav (11-8) Tracked leading pair, went 2nd 4 out, driven and outpaced next, no chance with winner, 2nd of 6, 18l behind Fair Along (11-4) at Wetherby 3m 1f hdl G2 (1) gd in Oct.
