| Course: CHELTENHAM | Race date:08/12/06 | Race time:2:30 | Runners:16 |
| Race distance:2m1f | Going:Soft | Winners time:4m 14.00s |
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Stall | Weight | Age | RPR | OR | Odds | B High | B Ave | B Low | In run | Finished | Dist Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Border Castle | Sam Thomas | Miss Venetia Williams | 10-9 | 5 | 137 | 118 | 12/1 | 42 | 17.86 | 14 | 1.01 | 1 | ||
| Pilca | Tom Scudamore | D Carroll | 10-0 | 6 | 124 | 109 | 33/1 | 75 | 49.42 | 21 | 1.2 | 2 | 3½ | |
| Dhehdaah | Warren Marston | Mrs P Sly | 10-12 | 5 | 121 | 121 | 14/1 | 26 | 20.46 | 9.2 | 15 | 4 | 10 | |
| Fait Le Jojo | Howie Ephgrave | L Corcoran | 11-7 | 9 | 126 | 135 | 66/1 | 210 | 116.51 | 19.5 | 60 | 5 | 9 | |
| Daryal | Robert Thornton | A King | 11-5 | 5 | 118 | 128 | 8/1 | 13.5 | 11.13 | 8.2 | 9.6 | 6 | 1¼ | |
| Nikola | Tony Evans | N A Twiston-Davies | 10-9 | 5 | 107 | 118 | 66/1 | 220 | 121.65 | 42 | 32 | 7 | ¾ | |
| Tanikos | Sam Curling | N J Henderson | 9-13 | 7 | 91 | 113 | 50/1 | 180 | 138 | 34 | 95 | 8 | 11 | |
| Lord Lington | Ryan Cummings | D J Wintle | 9-8 | 7 | 91 | 113 | 50/1 | 150 | 100.81 | 38 | 70 | 9 | ½ | |
| Manhattan Boy | Richard Johnson | P J Hobbs | 10-0 | 4 | 86 | 109 | 4/5F | 2.06 | 1.91 | 1.82 | 1.41 | 10 | ½ | |
| Silk Screen | W T Kennedy | A M Hales | 10-13 | 6 | 100 | 125 | 100/1 | 850 | 510.64 | 70 | 280 | 11 | 2 | |
| Greenhope | Mick Fitzgerald | N J Henderson | 11-1 | 8 | 70 | 124 | 25/1 | 65 | 43.06 | 9.8 | 19 | 12 | 29 | |
| Biscar Two | Daryl Jacob | A E Jones | 9-12 | 5 | 55 | 110 | 100/1 | 980 | 544.56 | 130 | 510 | 13 | ¾ | |
| Medison | Timmy Murphy | D E Pipe | 11-10 | 6 | 0 | 133 | 25/1 | 75 | 48.99 | 13 | 38 | PU | ||
| Grasp | A P McCoy | G L Moore | 10-11 | 4 | 0 | 120 | 33/1 | 200 | 63.96 | 34 | 24 | PU | ||
| Kadount | Keith Mercer | L Lungo | 11-5 | 8 | 0 | 128 | 33/1 | 200 | 93.16 | 26 | 75 | PU |
Border Castle mid-division, headway 3 out, tracked leader after 2 out and slight lead approaching last, driven and ran on strongly run-in
Pilca in touch, headway to chase leaders 4 out, chased leader after next, challenged 2 out, soon led and 4 lengths clear, headed approaching last, one pace run-in
She´s Supersonic held up in rear, headway from 3 out, stayed on from next, no impression on leaders approaching last
Dhehdaah chased leaders, hit 4th, driven along after 3 out, one pace from next
Fait Le Jojo led to 3rd, ridden 3 out, weakened 2 out
Daryal in touch, pushed along 3 out, no chance from next
Nikola chased leaders to 3 out, weakened next
Tanikos behind, effort into mid-division 4th, soon behind again
Lord Lington behind most of way
Manhattan Boy with leader, led 3rd, headed after 2 out, soon weakened
Silk Screen behind, some headway 4 out, weakened before 2 out
Greenhope chased leaders, not fluent 3rd, weakened after 3 out
Biscar Two always towards rear
Grasp in touch, headway to chase leaders 4 out, weakened quickly from 2 out and pulled up before last
Medison chased leaders until weakened quickly 4 out, tailed off when pulled up before last
Kadount behind from 4 out, tailed off when pulled up before last
With the favourite failing to run his race this was just another handicap, and one in which the talented former Flat handicapper BORDER CASTLE was an obvious contender on his reappearance, running from a potentially lenient mark on just his sixth start over hurdles, and for a stable that is in much better form this season than last. Given a patient ride, he went after clear leader Pilca from the second last and came right away from the pack. Nosing ahead at the last, he kept on for a win fairly decisive success, the pair a long way clear.
Pilca took a long time to find his form but is on fire now and ran a blinder from 4lb out of the handicap, taking the favourite's measure readily two out and soon bursting clear, only to find an unexposed rival just too strong from the last. He will pay for this but is very much on the upgrade.
Dheddah was beaten the best part of 20 lengths into fourth, and there was another big gap back to top-weight Fait Le Jojo, who weakened quickly from two out , and Daryal, whose Lingfield win isn't working out too well and who looked rather one paced this time.
Much further back Greenhope ran rather better than the finishing position suggests, and this should set him up nicely for a 2m chase somewhere on less testing ground.
Manhattan Boy reportedly finished distressed.
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