Reporter: Andy Gibson
The favourite came into this race with his stamina to prove for three miles. Consequently, it was surprising to see his rivals gift him a relatively easy lead from very early on. It must be said that he jumped superbly out in front and did not appear likely to relinquish his lead at any point during the final circuit. From the first fence leaving the stands until the final fence he almost matched the time set by The Jukebox Man before finishing ‘slightly behind’ the Ben Pauling horse on the run from the last fence to the winning line.
As pleasing to the eye as Kitzbuhel undoubtedly was, it should be noted that he is unlikely to always enjoy such an advantageous trip round on another day. In addition, today was a day when it paid to race prominently from the off. Furthermore, the proximity of the second, third and fourth horses to finish suggest that this winner has had to do no more than his 153 rating would suggest to prevail in this Grade One novices’ chase.
After rather losing his position half-way down the back straight, he quickly made up ground to take second spot well before the turn for home. From thereon in he remained the closest challenger to the winner and never really looked likely to lose the runner up spot. Quite what the form is worth is difficult to say; however, this was only his second chase start this season and the fact he stayed this three-mile trip well should open up a few more possibilities for him.
He was stepping up half a mile here and may need to step up again to contest the National Hunt Chase to offer him his best chance of being competitive at Cheltenham in March. He was outpaced from a very early stage before eventually keeping on at one pace to inherit third place in the closing stages.
He is not the biggest horse to be jumping these stiff fences, and it showed in his lack of fluency at a few of the obstacles. Consequently, he could never quite get on terms with the leaders before plodding on at one pace for fourth position. Nothing that ran a race finished behind him. He will hopefully face easier tasks on another day.
He continues to look like a temporary chaser waiting for a return to jumping the smaller obstacles.
His jumping let him down badly and he was also found to have bled from the nose post-race.
