The chaotic start played a massive role in the outcome of this prestigious race. At the point when Myretown fell at the ninth fence the next three horses to jump that fence just behind him finished in the first three places. In addition, all three were in the leading group as the field set off. Conversely, Gorgeous Tom, Katate Dori and Pic Roc all did remarkably well to finish so close in fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively, after being left a long way behind at the start.
Despite holding a significant advantage over many at the start, one would still have to be impressed with the way she jumped and travelled before really asserting when drawing clear of a good field from the last to the line. She has joined an elite group by winning the Paddy Power and the Coral Gold Cup in the same month. When a mare shows such rapid improvement, who knows where it will stop?
He was quick off the mark and enjoyed a very favourable position from the off. Aside from a couple of slow leaps he generally jumped and travelled extremely well to finish as the very honourable runner up off his big weight. He was conceding 16lbs to the winner and 12lbs to The Changing Man who followed him home in third position. He has not always presented as being the most consistent of horses so it is good to see him rack up three strong performances in a row.
The third horse to benefit from the privileged start he enjoyed. He did his usual in a competitive looking chase by jumping well before finding one or two rivals too good for him in the closing stages. He has now finished in second or third place in nine of his 12 completed starts over fences. He is a most reliable chaser and he remains an interesting horse to consider for forecast and tri-cast purposes in these big field contests.
He badly missed the kick at the start and lost many lengths as a result. It is difficult to be sure what might have happened should he have enjoyed a better start; however, one would have to suggest he would have finished a few lengths closer at worst.
He is one of three horses that can be seriously marked up for making late headway after being left behind many lengths at the start of the race.
The third and final horse that can be counted as being unfortunate through missing the kick at the start. He made good headway at an earlier and more competitive part of the race compared with the other two horses left behind and may have paid a price by tiring badly in the closing stages as a consequence.
He looks a well handicapped horse off his new 143 rating. He did nothing wrong here on ground that would have been much softer than ideal. Hopefully, he will be more likely to enjoy his optimum conditions in one of the spring festivals.
After running well for a long way, he appeared to run out of stamina from the third last fence. This can still be marked up as a positive run.
He can be marked up after performing well enough on ground that would not have been to his liking. He finished down the field on several occasions last winter as he plummeted down the handicap before finding his form in the spring time in a couple of races offering plenty of prize money. I would guess we can expect something similar again this time around.
Not for the first time he appeared to run below form when brought back relatively quickly after running well after a long absence. He did not jump with fluency from an early stage of the race and I am inclined to draw a line through this effort before considering his claims again when he returns after a break.
After getting to the front very early in the race he took a crashing fall at the ninth fence which was far too early to be making any guesses as to where he might have finished. Everything fell into place for him at Cheltenham in March as he put in a near perfect round of jumping; however, prior to that run his jumping had been a little inconsistent which we need to bear in mind when assessing his correct place in the market in future.
He was in the process of running a very big race when hitting five out hard and losing all chance as a result. He had every chance of finishing in the mix as he had benefitted from racing close to the pace throughout and was up with the leaders when he made his chance ending mistake.
