held up in rear, not fluent 3 out, ridden and headway when blundered next, one pace
tracked leaders, led on bit 2 out, ridden clear from last
tracked leader and keen, jumped right from 4th, led approaching 3 out, ridden and headed next, kept on same pace, no chance with winner
held up and keen, headway approaching 3 out, soon ridden, weakening when hit last
led, hit 2nd, ridden and headed approaching 3 out, soon weakened, blundered last, stumbled last
Paul Nicholls presently has a wealth of talented individuals under his care, with Kicks For Free ranking very highly in the pecking order amongst the novice hurdlers. Self Respect and Bleak House can be fancied to provide the Nicholls horse with the most to think about today. Bleak House changed hands for ¿200,000 after winning a bumper here last April and duly obliged in good style on his debut for Howard Johnson last month. The four-year-old certainly has an engine and his connections will attain a good gage about his potential this afternoon. The cut in the grounds should suit and he cannot confidently be ruled out. Neither can Self Respect, whose latest start received a solid boost when Moon Over Miami won a Grade 2 at Cheltenham's Open meeting. That form reads well and the Robert Ogden-owned gelding should be capable of making this a good test. However, Kicks For Free, who was third in both the Aintree and Cheltenham Champion bumpers, looks the real deal on what he has shown so far and is expected to really come into his own now that there are obstacles in the way. The gelding won't be the best price of the day but he could easily prove to be a steal at any odds.
Bleak House (IRE) 3-1fav (11-0) Held up, headway 4 out, led approaching 3 out, jumped left last, driven out, won at Aintree 2m mdn hdl (3) gd in Oct beating Sandy's Legend (10-9) by 2 1/2l, 17 ran.
Kicks For Free (IRE) 2-11fav (11-0) Held up in touch, headway on bit and left in lead 2 out, headed after last, shaken up and led 100 yards out, pushed out, comfortably, won at Wincanton 2m nh nov hdl (3) gd beating Presentandcorrect (11-0) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.
Self Respect (USA) 11-2 (11-0) Tracked leader, led 5th, went right 3 out, in command when hit 2 out and last, kept on well, won at Kempton 2m lst nov hdl (1) gd in Oct beating Moon Over Miami (11-6) by 7l, 7 ran.
Indian Pipe Dream (IRE) 3-1 (9-8) Tracked leader, driven over 3f out, soon beaten, 5th of 6, 37l behind Dont Call Me Derek (9-1) at Doncaster 2m hcp 0-100 (2) sft in Nov '05 (Flat).
Mange Tout (IRE) 100-1 (11-4) Held up in rear and keen, ridden 9th, soon weakened, 6th of 7, well behind Atlantic Jane (11-4) at Market Rasen 3m nov hdl (3) gs in Feb.
