Reporter: Andy Gibson
With only six of the sixteen horses able to complete the course, this outcome had more than an element of ‘last man standing’ about it. The six finishers were all racing towards the front end for the second half of the race and nothing got into the race from behind.
It is possible that staying wide on the final circuit resulted in him competing on the best of the ground. I am not sure on that point but it was interesting to see the horses taking the inside route struggle at different points of the race. After looking set for a relatively comfortable success jumping the final fence he ultimately held on well in what proved to be a tighter finish than had appeared likely. He was unproven on this testing ground prior to the race which may be part of the reason why he was ridden towards the outside.
I don’t know if his serious error at the seventh last fence cost him the race but it certainly did not help his cause. Immediately after sprawling on landing after that fence he looked a beaten horse and did remarkably well to renew his challenge and join the leaders again in the home straight. He rallied again close to the finish to grab the runner up prize on the line and is clearly a very hardy stayer.
After staying on strongly from a long way back in the Kim Muir a month ago he once again proved his resilience in the finish by running on strongly again here before just missing out on the runner up spot by the narrowest of margins.
He sprawled on landing after getting the fourth last fence wrong and this was at a vital stage of the race just as the pace was quickening early in the home straight. I doubt many horses have completed the Midland and Scottish National double but he certainly gave it a good go. This was a tremendous effort after being involved in such a gruelling race at Uttoxeter over four miles plus just over a month previously.
I thought he ran quite a strange race in that he appeared to be ‘out on his feet’ when barely clambering over the third last fence. He then rallied in the closing stages and made up plenty of ground on the leading group from the final fence to snatch fifth place close to the line.
I am far from sure, but it is possible that the inside route his rider elected to take in the home straight did not play to his advantage. Either way, this was a strong performance in difficult conditions.
His profile suggests he will require much better ground to show his best form. On this testing surface he ran like a blatant non-stayer.
