prominent, dropped towards rear 14th, headway to chase leader 4 out, close up 3 out, ridden before 2 out, led narrowly last, stayed on strongly flat
held up towards rear, sprawled on landing 11th, reminders after 13th, ridden in rear before 4 out, one pace
led, jumped right 2nd, ridden when hit 3 out, narrow advantage 2 out, headed last, no extra flat
chased leader, not fluent 3rd, jumped right 5th, 10th and 11th, still in touch when not fluent 4 out, pushed to chase leader when mistake 3 out, jumped markedly right and pecked on landing 2 out, pulled up soon after
held up in rear, hit 12th, headway into midfield 14th, hit 4 out and ridden, weakening when jumped left last
held up, not fluent 4th, headway into midfield 14th, ridden before 3 out, one pace from 2 out
Gars Bar Dine was 0-19 over hurdles but took a big step forward when getting off the mark over fences here last month. He will have stamina to prove today, however, and we’d rather give another chance to MERCIAN KNIGHT, who is a thorough stayer who may just benefit from the application of blinkers. Talktomenow has won a point-to-point and a hurdle so a switch to fences could bring about further improvement but Et Moi Alors is not progressing.
Talktomenow 11-2 (11-11) Tracked leader, led 7th, ridden and headed before 3 out, kept on under pressure but no chance with winner, 2nd of 4, 7l behind O'Hanrahan Bridge (11-9) at Carlisle 3m 1f hcp (4) hvy in Nov.
Orchard Thieves (IRE) 20-1 (11-12) Tracked leaders, reminder before 4 out, ridden when lost position and dropped to rear 3f out, no impression in closing stages, 5th of 7, dist behind Mister Murchan (10-13) at Fontwell 2m 6f hcp (4) hvy in Nov.
Mercian Knight (IRE) 2-1fav (11-6) Never that fluent and tendency to jump slightly right, led and disputed, went badly right bumped 11th, lost 2nd next, 2nd again after 12th until 14th, chased leaders, weakened 4 out, mistake last, 4th of 7, 17 1/4l behind Classic Escape (11-3) at Southwell 3m hcp (4) gs in Nov.
Et Moi Alors (FR) 7-2 (11-10) Raced in 4th, hit 7th, blundered 11th and rider lost iron briefly, jumped right 13th and dropped to last, soon struggling, 4th of 5, dist behind Easyrun De Vassy (11-6) at Fontwell 3m 2f hcp (4) gd in Aug.
Gars Bar Dine (FR) 11-4 (11-5) Chased leaders, headway on inside 3 out, narrowly led after last, ridden on run-in, kept on well, won at Fontwell 2m 6f hcp (5) hvy in Nov beating Big Time Frank (10-7) by 4 1/2l, 7 ran.
Nessfield Blue 7-2 (10-6) In rear, slow 1st, mistake 6th, went remote 7th before 3 out, 7th of 15, dist behind Spectator (11-10) at Chepstow 3m hcp (4) sft in Oct.
