| Course: UTTOXETER | Race date:18/02/06 | Race time:3:35 | Runners:13 |
| Race distance:2m6½f | Going:Heavy | Winners time:6m 11.10s |
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Stall | Weight | Age | RPR | OR | Odds | B High | B Ave | B Low | In run | Finished | Dist Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Armageddon | Larry McGrath | R C Guest | 11-2 | 9 | 146 | 130 | 11/1 | 18.53 | 15.06 | 11.88 | 1.01 | 1 | ||
| Better Days | Richard McGrath | Mrs S J Smith | 10-13 | 10 | 129 | 127 | 8/1 | 11.88 | 9.91 | 8.89 | 9 | 3 | 6 | |
| Be My Better Half | A P McCoy | Jonjo O´Neill | 10-13 | 11 | 123 | 127 | 7/2F | 9.26 | 6.05 | 5 | 2.3 | 4 | 6 | |
| Haut De Gamme | Keith Mercer | Ferdy Murphy | 11-9 | 11 | 123 | 137 | 9/1 | 13.5 | 11.75 | 7.97 | 4 | 5 | 10 | |
| Whereareyounow | Tom Siddall | N A Twiston-Davies | 10-8 | 9 | 92 | 122 | 11/1 | 19 | 16.1 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 16 | |
| Amberleigh House | Paddy Aspell | D McCain | 11-2 | 14 | 76 | 133 | 50/1 | 150 | 109.36 | 47.5 | 80 | 7 | 27 | |
| Kadount | Wayne Hutchinson | A King | 11-12 | 8 | 0 | 140 | 16/1 | 34 | 22.88 | 12.05 | 20 | PU | ||
| Juveigneur | Marcus Foley | N J Henderson | 11-11 | 9 | 0 | 139 | 14/1 | 18.53 | 15.31 | 13 | 2.2 | PU | ||
| Spring Grove | Robert Walford | R H Alner | 10-5 | 11 | 0 | 119 | 18/1 | 40.76 | 25.81 | 17 | 15 | PU | ||
| Edmo Yewkay | Russ Garritty | T D Easterby | 11-0 | 6 | 0 | 128 | 14/1 | 22.8 | 17.84 | 10.19 | 14.5 | PU | ||
| Bannow Strand | Tom Malone | M C Pipe | 11-7 | 6 | 0 | 138 | 7/1 | 9.4 | 7.09 | 3.98 | 5 | PU | ||
| Almost Broke | Mr C J Sweeney | P F Nicholls | 11-6 | 9 | 0 | 139 | 10/1 | 17.5 | 13.36 | 9.26 | 5 | PU |
OUR ARMAGEDDON had yet to recapture his form from a couple of years ago, when he won the Cathcart, but he has steadily improved this season and this victory capped it. He was in the van for most of the way and had no trouble in holding He's The Guv'nor at bay after that one made a mistake two out. The winner will now probably go to Cheltenham, where he has a few options including the Racing Post Plate (formerly the Mildmay of Flete), but the Topham at Aintree is the main target. He'll find those races much tougher, of course, and is 100-1 (from 200) with William Hill for the Gold Cup.
Spring Grove and He's The Guv'nor couldn't be ruled out off their low weights, and the latter ran a blinder. He could well have won bar that mistake two out. The former didn't fare so well.
Better Days is aptly named in that he hasn't won since 2003, but he looks certain to end the drought soon and ran another good race here.
Be My Better Half came into this in top form off an eye-catching weight, but was never quite getting there.
Whereareyounow won this last year but hasn't shown the same level of form since, so this can be considered a better effort than of late as he battled on. So to did 2004 Grand National hero Amberleigh House, who is rather out of form and better over much further.His trainer Ginger McCain will have been delighted by this display over a trip nearly two miles shorter than ideal.
Ground and fitness were the concerns for Juveigneur's backers, and they were borne out. Almost Broke had relished the step up to three miles when lifting a similar race to this at Wincanton last month on better ground. He was off a career-high mark here, though, and it told.
This slight step up in distance did not appear a concern beforehand for Bannow Strand, but he ran a stinker.
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