chased leader, never jumped well, under pressure when hampered 2 out, no impression
led until 3 out, driven and unseated rider next
tracked leader, led 3 out, strongly challenged approaching last, forged clear flat, stayed on gamely
tracked leaders, took keen hold, lost place 7th, rallied 2 out, every chance last, no extra flat
GROOMED looks the one to be on here. He won twice on the Flat and was third here on his UK debut over hurdles following a campaign in Ireland. The five-year-old has more scope than stablemate Earth Tremor, who has still to win a race of any description and is a little one-paced. Persian Herald was hit-and-miss over hurdles and it remains to be seen how he takes to fences but he still looks a better bet than the returning Watch House to spoil a Tim Vaughan 1-2.
Earth Tremor (IRE) 4-1 (10-12) Held up, not fluent 1st, headway approaching 4th, weakened next, tailed off, 7th of 9, well behind At Fishers Cross (10-12) at Ffos Las 2m nh nov hdl (4) sft in Nov.
Watch House (IRE) 25-1 (11-2) Led, driven and headed 3f out, kept on same pace final 2f, 7th of 14, 21l behind Greenlaw (11-2) at Huntingdon 2m NH flat (5) gd in Oct '11.
Groomed (IRE) 17-2 (11-11) Mid-division, challenged 2 out, no extra flat, 3rd of 8, 3 1/2l behind Chicklemix (11-3) at Wetherby 2m hcp hdl 0-115 (4) hvy in Dec.
Persian Herald 12-1 (11-5) Prominent, lost place before 3 out, soon weakened, 10th of 13, 48l behind Drussell (11-2) at Ludlow 2m hcp hdl 0-105 (4) sft in Dec.
