tracked leader, pushed along before 3 out, led 2 out, kept on, driven out
in rear, headway before 3 out, every chance before last, kept on to chase winner run-in, just held
tracked leaders, weakened from 3 out
led, headed before 3 out, weakened before 2 out
tracked leaders, pushed along after 4 out, weakened after next
held up mid-division, pushed along before 3 out, kept on same pace
held up mid-division, blundered 5th, headway 4 out, led before 3 out, headed 2 out, no extra and lost 2nd place run-in
held up towards rear, headway before 3 out, ridden before last, kept on same pace
always towards rear
Me And Ben is effectively only 4lb higher than when landing a mares' Listed chase at Cheltenham in April and she has to go on the short-list in this. But TEENAGE DREAM seems to have found his niche over fences and never looked in danger of defeat when well backed at Cartmel nine days ago. Brian Ellison's six-year-old can shrug off a penalty to double his tally. Qoubilai usually finds at least one too good while French Ties hasn't raced since August last year. This looks too tough for the returning Tregaro while the jury is still out on the lightly-raced Boric.
Qoubilai (FR) 20-1 (11-6) Held up in rear, headway approaching 4 out, not fluent 3 out, stayed on in close 3rd towards finish, just held, 3rd of 10, 3/4l behind Edmund (11-6) at Cartmel 2m 5f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gd in May.
French Ties (IRE) 5-1 (11-7) Held up, mistakes 5th, headway 9th, went 3rd when not fluent 3 out, chased winner last, no impression, 2nd of 6, 6l behind Surf And Turf (11-6) at Worcester 2m 4f hcp chs 0-120 (4) gf in Aug.
Boric 25-1 (10-12) Soon tracked leaders, raced wide, weakened from 10th, last of 5, 43l behind Master Of The Game (10-12) at Kelso 2m 1f nov chs (4) gd in May.
Prince Des Marais (FR) 9-1 (11-12) Chased leaders to 3 out, soon ridden and one pace, 4th of 6, 16l behind Humbel Ben (10-8) at Bangor 2m 1f hcp chs 0-120 (4) gd in Aug '12.
Me And Ben (IRE) 9-1 (9-9) Held up in last, not fluent 8th, headway 10th, went 2nd after 3 out, led 2 out, driven out, won at Cheltenham 2m 5f (1) gd in Apr beating Possibly Flora (10-0) by 2l, 7 ran.
Balinroab (IRE) 4-1fav (10-9) In rear, pushed along before 10th, tailed off when blundered 4 out, pulled up run-in, in a race won by Ballytober (11-11) at Worcester 2m 7f hcp chs 0-120 (4) gf in May, 10 ran.
Teenage Dream (IRE) 6-4fav (11-4) Held up, headway approaching 7th, not fluent and led last, soon dashed clear, eased heavily towards finish, won at Cartmel 2m 1f hcp chs 0-100 (5) gd in May beating Mystified (10-0) by 14l, 10 ran.
Tregaro (FR) 8-1 (10-9) Held up behind when brought down 1st, in a race won by Roc D'apsis (11-3) at Southwell 2m 4f hcp chs 0-115 (4) gd in Dec, 8 ran.
Gin Cobbler 10-1 (11-2) Mistake 2nd, behind, headway 10th, ridden and outpaced after last, kept on under pressure from over 1f out, never reached leaders, 5th of 11, 11l behind Roseville Cottage (11-9) at Cartmel 2m 5f hcp chs 0-100 (5) gf in May.
