tracked leader, ridden along from 8th, lost 2nd 12th, weakened and lost touch 14th, tailed off when pulled up before 18th
held up, some headway 6th, weakened 16th, held up when pulled up before 18th
held up, headway to track leaders 4th, went 2nd 12th, closed going easily after 3 out, led soon after 2 out, stayed well
close up, led 11th, ridden after 3 out, headed soon after next, soon no chance of winner, weakend and lost 2nd flat
led to 11th, tracked leading pair to stay 19th and soon weakened
held up, still plenty to do after 3 out, stayed on well under pressure after 2 out, took 2nd flat no chance of winner
no fluent, always behind, mistake 13th, tailed off
not fluent, in touch until weakened 16th, tailed off
close up, steadily lost place from 5th, stayed on under pressure after 3 out, not paced to reach leaders
The one to beat here is General Claremont, with the strongest of the opposition looking to be Woodlands Beau and Tell Tale. The selection is trained by Paul Nicholls and was good enough to achieve a rating in the 120s under Rules. The form of his very good second to County Derry at Cheltenham last month stands out to our eyes and a repeat of that effort should suffice tonight. Monk's Error showed respectable form under Rules in Ireland a year or more ago but so has failed to transfer that to the pointing arena. Robbie's Adventure was well behind the selection at Cheltenham, but Tell Tale holds chances based on his two-length second to Kingston Banker - who runs in an earlier race on this card - at Plumpton recently, while Tom Cobbler, a winning novice chaser in his time, has been running reasonably well between the flags but more is required tonight. From the Alner stable that could already have had a good night by now, Woodlands Beau's form puts him high up the shortlist for this contest, and he could give the selection most to do, but Alska has a bit to find on official ratings. Overall, then, we are happy to side with General Claremont.
