held up towards rear, headway when not much room bend after 6th, reminder after 11th, ridden and weakened approaching 2 out
held up, headway approaching 7th, pressed leaders 4 out, ridden 2 out, disputed lead last, stayed on one apce flat
in touch, chased leader after 6th, disputed lead 4 out, led before next, ridden approaching last, kept on well flat, headed post
prominent, bumped 3rd, pushed along after 10th, weakened approaching 4 out, well behind when pulled up before last
prominent, pushed along and lost place after 4th, some headway approaching 4 out, weakened after 2 out
held up towards rear, headway approaching 4 out, ridden approaching 2 out, not fluent last, ran on well flat to lead post
held up, not fluent 9th and next, weakened after 3 out
led, bumped 3rd, headed before 3 out, lost place after next, rallied and stayed on under pressure flat
A decent novices' chase here with some good up and coming horses to have a look at, including debutante Ask Henry. Being trained by Paul Nicholls he is guaranteed to be both fit and well schooled and so must come into calculations on that basis alone. Similarly, Isard III is a relatively unknown quantity, having won his only start in a bumper here 19 months ago. Another sure to be fit and ready, the gelding should be watched in the market to see if there is any stable confidence in him. Whilst it would be no surprise if either of those mentioned comes homes in front, the TEAMtalk vote goes to one with more experience, Tribal King. Henrietta Knight's seven-year-old will love the good ground and showed plenty of guts after a break to win at Wetherby last week, when he looked like staying trips would certainly suit him. The cautionary note here is that the top weight has broken blood vessels in the past, but providing he is over those exertions and doesn't suffer from the dreaded bounce factor he can improve again to take this. Of those with experience, his chief rival should turn out to be Haut Cercy. A comfortable winner at Chepstow last time, the gelding jumps really well and clearly looks to have more improvement in him. Others to consider are Sir Rembrandt, who has been brought along patiently by Robert Alner, but who may prefer more cut, and Young Ottoman, who also likes to get his toe in, but goes well fresh, has ability, and in receipt of 12lbs from the selection should be thereabouts.
