tracked leader until not fluent 1st, niggled along 4th, mistake 7th, went 2nd after 9th until last (normal 3 out), went 2nd again over 2f out, hung left 1f out, no extra towards finish
tracked winner from 1st until after 9th, not fluent 2 out, went 2nd again last (normal 3 out) until over 2f out, no extra and eased over 1f out
made all, ridden 1f out, stayed on well, drawing clear towards finish
Nonrunner
Indigo Rock was last on his chasing debut at Newcastle but should be capable of much better given his background. Abbey Storm, another winning pointer, improved on a poor run at Worcester to finish second at Aintree but was still beaten 10 lengths. SETTLEDOUTOFCOURT was denied a hat-trick when only third at Wetherby but that still wasn't a bad run given he's gone up 17lb in the weights since October. He can recapture the winning thread as Milano Magic has proved difficult to win with.
Abbey Storm (IRE) 14-1 (11-5) Led, mistake 3rd, headed 8th, led again next, headed 2 out, no impression on winner before last, 2nd of 6, 10l behind Samingarry (10-2) at Aintree 3m 1f (3) gd in Oct.
Indigo Rock (IRE) 4-1 (11-2) Tracked leaders in 3rd, joined leader 5th, led before 6th, headed 11th, ridden before 3 out, lost 2nd before last, lost 3rd place near finish, last of 4, 17l behind Yesyoucan (11-2) at Newcastle 2m 4f nov chs (4) gd in Nov.
Settledoutofcourt (IRE) 11-4fav (11-12) Led, headed last, ridden and no extra run-in, lost 2nd place towards finish, 3rd of 7, 5l behind Basford Ben (10-7) at Wetherby 3m 1f nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gs.
Milano Magic (IRE) 10-1 (11-11) Tracked leaders in 3rd, mistake and unseated rider 8th, in a race won by Sharney Sike (10-2) at Newcastle 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-110 (4) gd, 9 ran.
