chased winner, not fluent 5th, ridden after 15th, no chance with winner from 3 out, eased flat
made all, drew clear after 3 out, eased flat
chased leaders until weakened 15th, soon behind, pulled up before 4 out
A decent novices' chase with Elenas River just preferred to Dear Deal and Luneray. Paul Nicholls trains the last mentioned and the ex-French gelding, who opened his account in Britain when winning at Hereford earlier this month remains of interest, particularly in receipt of weight from her main adversaries. Dear Deal looks the pick of Colin Tizzard's two runners and has to be respected on the pick of his form. However, the 11-year-old may struggle to give weight away to Elenas River. The Philip Hobbs-trained gelding had been knocking on the door until opening his account at Ascot last month and, with that first win under his belt, the son of Over The River is expected to win again. Stablemate Under The Sand looks the Hobbs second string despite a win over course and distance success last time and of more interest may be the Bridget Nicholls-trained Plumier, who won well at Lingfield last time. The remainder make limited appeal in a race that is taken to go the way of Elenas River.
