close up, led 5th, blundered last, driven out, just held on
in rear, pushed along approaching 9th, weakened approaching 3 out
close up, chased winner from 9th until outpaced from 2 out
led, jumped slowly 1st, headed 5th, pushed along approaching 4 out, chased winner from 2 out, stayed on well from last, just held near finish
KING FONTAINE has more scope for progress than his rivals and is fancied to see off Woody Valentine and Viscount Rossini. Malcolm Jefferson's gelding has been in good form this season and deserves to carry top-weight here. He was a cosy winner at Wetherby last time having run well at Carlisle previously and with this quicker ground unlikely to be a problem he should take all the beating. Woody Valentine has edged down to a feasible mark now but this gelding has 20 lengths to find with the selection on their run last time and a 5lb pull in the weights may be not be enough to turn the tables. Viscount Rossini is a course winner over hurdles and is considered a player as he tries fences for the first time. He has form on a variety of surfaces but the majority of his form has come on slightly softer ground. Stablemate Indian Pipe Dream completes the line-up and tries the cheek-piece/tongue-tie combo for the first time. He is nicely-handicapped on his old form but his poor 2009 must mean that there are reservations about him. This looks straight-forward for King Fontaine to win again.
King Fontaine (IRE) 5-6fav (10-12) Held up behind, steady headway 11th, led 2 out, stayed on well from last, won at Wetherby 2m 4f nov chs 0-115 (4) sft beating Pamak D'airy (10-12) by 6l, 8 ran.
Woody Valentine (USA) 25-1 (10-9) Tracked leader, led briefly 7th, mistake next, outpaced 4 out, weakened from next, 7th of 8, 20l behind King Fontaine (10-12) at Wetherby 2m 4f nov chs 0-115 (4) sft.
Viscount Rossini 16-1 (10-11) Not always fluent, chased winner until after 3rd, lost place 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out, 6th of 7, 28l behind Issaquah (11-7) at Market Rasen 2m 1f hcp hdl 0-125 (3) sft in Mar.
Indian Pipe Dream (IRE) 20-1 (11-12) Tracked leaders, ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened, last of 13, well behind Winterwood (11-10) at Doncaster 3m hcp hdl 0-115 (4) gd in Dec.
