With 6mm of overnight rain, the going changed to soft (with heavy patches – mainly in the straights), although several jockeys reported it was on the heavy side and they came home very tired.

The pace was solid considering the conditions and a quartet pulled away from the top of the hill on the second circuit. The early clip set by Quasimodo and Cava Bien played into the hands of hurdling debutant BLAZING BAILEY, who made good progress passing the post on the first lap and took it up off the bottom turn. Though a lowly-rated, fast-ground stayer on the Flat, he jumped fluently and handled the conditions better than most, drawing clear under persistent pressure. Though a tilt at the Triumph Hurdle looks an unattainable aim at this stage of his development, he should progress and is perhaps better than the bare form suggests.

Well-backed Desert Jim was a little disappointing and had no answer from the penultimate flight. The blinkers, which he wore on his hurdling debut last month when far from disgraced in a much hotter Cheltenham juvenile novices' event, were dispensed with here – yet it made little difference. The ground and perhaps this sharper track are more valid excuses.

Quasimodo was not particularly fluent on several occasions and weakened rapidly before the final turn. The suspicion is that his recent Sandown victory may have taken too much out of him.

Debutants Cold Mountain and Llamadas were never near enough to challenge, though could easily find improvement.

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