held up in touch, improved to chase winner 12th, ridden 4 out, kept but no chance with winner
always prominent, ridden 4 out, weakened approaching last
chased winner until 12th, soon ridden, weakened 4 out
in touch, lost place 6th, weakened 11th, pulled up after 13th
held up, ridden 11th, weakened 4 out
made all, clear 14th, unchallenged, comfortable
slow 1st, behind when unseated rider next
Oscar Park should outclass this opposition; the race for second is less clearcut but may involve Contact Dancer and Delightful Cliche. David Arbuthnot's smart hurdler was in the process of running a huge race on his belated chase bow only to make a howler five from home and unseat Seamus Durack. That race at Kempton was far more competitive than this and he was in the process of making the well regarded Barbers Shop pull out all the stops. He'll win today with a clear round. Contact Dancer should find conditions here more to his liking than at Chepstow last time and he should add to his record of five placed efforts over fences but could be challenged for second by Delightful Cliche who has finished runner-up on two of his four chase starts. However, it's hard to see either troubling Oscar Park.
Autumn Red (IRE) 7-1 (10-4) Chased leaders, niggled along after 6th, went upside briefly 14th, weakened 3 out, 4th of 8, 40l behind Bagan (11-9) at Newbury 3m nov hcp chs (3) gs in Dec.
Contact Dancer (IRE) 10-1 (11-5) Prominent until ridden and weakened approaching 5 out, 5th of 8, 46l behind Victory Gunner (10-10) at Chepstow 3m 2f hcp chs 0-125 (3) hvy in Jan.
Delightful Cliche 7-1 (10-12) Held up in touch, lost place 12th, behind when pulled up at the last in race won by The Dark Lord (11-12) at Fakenham 3m hcp chs 0-120 (3) gs in Jan, 9 ran.
Felix Rex (GER) 66-1 (11-4) Held up in touch, ridden and weakened 6th, soon beaten, 9th of 14, well behind Deep Reflection (11-7) at Huntingdon 2m 5f hcp hdl 0-115 (4) hvy in Jan.
Menelaus 12-1 (10-8) Tracked leaders, lost place after 3rd, headway to chase leaders 7th, weakened after 4 out, 6th of 11, 29l behind Malko De Beaumont (10-5) at Haydock 2m 7f hcp hdl 0-120 (3) hvy in Dec.
Oscar Park (IRE) 9-4 (11-0) Tracked leaders, led briefly 7th, with winner when blundered badly and unseated rider 5 out in race won by Barbers Shop (11-0) at Kempton 2m 4f beg chs (4) gs, 8 ran.
Homeleighwildchild 100-1 (10-5) Chased leader 2nd until 5th, weakened 7th, 6th of 7, 48l behind Thehonourablelady (10-5) at Fakenham 2m 4f nov hdl (4) gd in Oct.
