held up in touch on outside, effort 4 out to next, weakened 2 out
keen early, held up in touch on inside, behind and outpaced before 5 out, soon weakened, tailed off
tracked leaders, ridden and outpaced after 3 out, weakened from next
held up behind in touch, headway on inside 4 out, ridden after 2 out, kept on same pace, 4th and held when not fluent last
tracked leaders on inside, lost place 4 out, weakened next
tracked winner virtually throughout, effort 3 out, soon ridden and one pace, well held flat
held up behind in touch, headway on outside 6th, ridden to chase leading pair 2 out, kept on same pace, no impression
made all, not fluent 4th, ridden clear after 2 out, stayed on well
OH CRICK won this last year off a 3lb lower mark and, like Oiseau De Nuit, is a former Grand Annual winner. This looks a better race than 12 months ago but has the beating of Renard and Gus Macrae on Newbury running in December and Josh Newman takes off 7lb. Doeslessthanme is starting to come down the weights again and likely to be suited by the drop back in distance but Dunowen Point's winning run came to an end at Wetherby last time and he's been raised a further 4lb since, though he's another who will appreciate dropping back to 2m and is preferred to the returning Cornas and Lingfield winner Ballygarvey.
Oiseau de Nuit (FR) 33-1 (11-7) Held up in main group, driven and outpaced 3 out, no chance with leaders, 6th of 7, 38l behind Sprinter Sacre (11-7) at Cheltenham 2m chs G1 (1) hvy in Jan.
Cornas (NZ) 8-1 (11-2) Always in last pair, never involved, tailed off, last of 8, 50l behind Sanctuaire (11-2) at Sandown 2m chs G2 (1) sft in Apr.
Doeslessthanme (IRE) 7-1 (11-6) Held up in touch, headway 12th, pushed along before 2 out, kept on and lost 3rd place close home, 4th of 7, 10l behind Molotof (11-0) at Warwick 2m 4f hcp chs (2) hvy.
Oh Crick (FR) 11-1 (11-5) Held up in touch, effort approaching 3 out, soon under pressure, weakened after last, 4th of 9, 18l behind Eastlake (10-8) at Sandown 2m hcp chs 0-145 (2) hvy.
Dunowen Point (IRE) 5-2fav (11-1) Held up towards rear and keen, headway before 8th, went 2nd before 3 out, every chance last, kept on and well held run -in, 2nd of 10, 3 1/2l behind Cloudy Too (10-10) at Wetherby 2m 4f hcp chs 0-150 (2) sft.
Renard (FR) 20-1 (10-4) Mid-division in touch, chased leaders 11th until 5 out, soon ridden and behind, tailed off, 9th of 14, well behind Unioniste (9-9) at Cheltenham 2m 5f hcp chs Grd 3 (1) hvy in Dec.
Gus Macrae (IRE) 16-1 (10-11) Prominent early, tracked leaders, ridden 9th, outpaced 4 out, weakened next, pulled up before last, in a race won by Carrickboy (10-12) at Chepstow 2m 3f hcp chs (2) hvy in Jan, 9 ran.
Ballygarvey (FR) 4-6fav (11-0) Jumped well, made all, came clear after 10th, heavily eased flat, unchallenged, won at Lingfield 2m 4f nov chs 0-125 (4) hvy beating Clouded Thoughts (11-0) by 22l, 3 ran.
Anay Turge (FR) 10-1 (11-6) Held up in touch, challenged 4 out, no extra from 2 out, 5th of 7, 20l behind Greywell Boy (11-2) at Uttoxeter 2m hcp chs 0-120 (4) hvy.
