chased leader in 2nd, close up and pressed from halfway, disputed 4 out, ridden in 2nd before 2 out, 3rd and mistake 2 out, soon no extra and kept on one pace
led, pressed from halfway, disputed 4 out, ridden and headed 2 out, no extra in 2nd before last, kept on one pace
held up last of four, fell 4 out
settled behind leaders in 3rd, mistake 4th, improved to lead and mistake 2 out, pushed out to go clear before last, easily
FAR AWAY SO CLOSE is well at home in these conditions as he showed when beating Norther Bay at Wexford and has a few pounds in hand of these rivals on official figures. Imperial Shabra is another at home on fast ground as he showed when scoring over timber at Bellewstown though he prefers a longer trip these days. Laganbank was beaten almost 5l by the latter at Galway in September but does have a bit more scope and may be able to reverse the form while Fair Dilemma has plenty to find.
Far Away So Close (IRE) 13-8 (11-8) Raced in moderate 2nd, closed from after 3 out, challenged approaching straight, soon gained narrow lead, stayed on well run-in, won at Wexford 2m 1f chs gf beating Norther Bay (11-12) by 1 3/4l, 5 ran.
Imperial Shabra (IRE) 6-1 (10-5) Made all, ridden before 2 out, kept on well from before last, won at Bellewstown 2m 4f hcp hdl 8Evens23 gf beating Usuel Smurfer (11-6) by 2 1/4l, 14 ran.
Fair Dilemma (IRE) 16-1 (10-8) Close up and disputed lead, headed 6th, soon chased leaders, moderate 4th 5 out, no extra 3 out, 12th of 18, well behind Mr Cracker (11-5) at Listowel 2m 3f hcp chs gd in Jun.
Laganbank (IRE) 9-2 (11-0) Led, led and disputed from 5th, headed from 5 out and dropped to last before the next, no impression from there, last of 3, 35l behind Baily Green (11-8) at Cork 2m 4f nov chs Grd 3 (1) in Nov.
