tracked leader, led 4 out, blundered and headed last, kept on same pace
led, headed 4 out, outpaced next
held up in rear, headway 4 out, effort 2 out, led last, stayed on strongly
headway 7th, every chance approaching 3 out, one pace next
tracked leaders, not fluent and dropped rear 4th, ridden 7th, soon lost touch
Even though Cobbet has let his supporters down in his last two starts, there has to be a suspicion that he may have needed the outings and he is given the benefit of the doubt here. There are a number of dangers though, and support for the likes of Chergan and Divet Hill could give a good indication as to whether their connections are confident that this trip will suit. While Bill's Echo looks to be getting the hang of things over fences and cannot be confidently ruled out after his comfortable win at Bangor last month. However, like his fore mentioned rivals, he may lack the required gears when push comes to shove so the biggest danger may come from the ex-Flat horse, Torrid Kentavr, who won his only previous start over fences by a wide margin last year. He arrives here fit and well from a light hurdles campaign and is obviously worth watching in the betting. However, Cobbet showed a real liking for this course when he last made the long journey up from Tom George's Gloustershire base and he is taken to make a happy return to Perth if he puts in anything like his best today.
