Soft

3:30 Pertemps "Fighting Fifth" Hurdle (Class A) Grade 1 (4yo+)

[off 3:36] £45,072.00, £16,976.00, £8,496.00, £4,248.00, £2,128.00, £1,064.00 9 hdles 2m

Comments In Running OR TS RPR

1 Arcalis J Howard Johnson 5 11-7 A Dobbin 9/4F 146 130 158+

2 5 Royal Shakespeare (FR) S Gollings 6 11-7 T Scudamore 8/1 154 124 150

3 shd The French Furze (IRE) N G Richards 11 11-7 B Harding 33/1 140 124 150

4 4 Self Defense Miss E C Lavelle 8 11-7 F Keniry 7/2 153 119 146

5 nk Genghis (IRE) P Bowen 6 11-7 W Hutchinson 10/1 145 119 147+

6 5 Hasty Prince Jonjo O´Neill 7 11-7 b1 R McGrath 25/1 150 112 142+

7 26 Overstrand (IRE) Robert Gray 6 11-7 p G Berridge 200/1 117 79 115

8 15 Admiral (IRE) R C Guest 4 11-7 P C O´Neill 8/1 145 59 100

PU Intersky Falcon Jonjo O´Neill 8 11-7 b N Fehily 3/1 160 — —

9 ran TIME 4m 0.60s (slow by 17.60s) TOTAL SP 116%

NON RUNNERS: Akilak (IRE) ,Buthaina (IRE)

1st OWNER: Andrea & Graham Wylie BRED: P E Clinton TRAINER: J Howard Johnson

2nd OWNER: J B Webb

3rd OWNER: Jim Ennis

TOTE TRIFECTA Pool: £906.98 - 1.70 winning tickets. Place 6 £318.08, Place 5 £132.33 WIN £3.00 PL £1.50, £2.20, £4.70; Ex £29.50; CSF £21.18Pool: £906.98 - 1.70 winning tickets. Place 6 £318.08, Place 5 £132.33

PLACEPOT £952.30 to a £1 stake. Pool: £47,032.70. 36.05 winning tickets.

QUADPOT £77.30 to a £1 stake. Pool: £3,262.10. 31.20 winning tickets.

ANALYSIS: A Grade 1 race, which has often proved informative as a Champion Hurdle stepping-stone - Harchibald won it last year - produced a decent, if not vintage field. The ground was officially changed to soft beforehand, which was a worry for connections of ARCALIS, essentially a good-ground horse, who was making his seasonal reappearance. Looking big and well in the preliminaries, he produced a performance which oozed class.

Settled off the pace in a race run at just an ordinary gallop, the winner travelled supremely well and jumped for fun, with the exception of a blunder three out. It mattered not a jot. Still on the bridle when he struck the front before the next, he quickened away from the last to provide a glowing reminder of the sort of acceleration he showed to win the Supreme Novices' Hurdle last March. He will have a light campaign, geared towards the Champion Hurdle, and he will surely be respected by all come the day.

Royal Shakespeare, another who would have preferred livelier ground,stepped up on his third place in last year's race. Kept wide in search of better ground along the back straight, he had every chance, but lacked the pace of the winner when the final dash developed and, in the end, only just held off old-timer The FrenchFurze for second.

The French Furze, a past winner of this race and also three times second, ran his heart out and is a truly admirable campaigner.

Self Defense would have preferred a stronger end-to-end gallop, and was readily outpaced whenthe race began in earnest.

Genghis was comfortably held, while first-time blinkers failed to bring about the required improvement in Hasty Prince.

Overstrand had no business in this calibre of event, being 30lb and more 'wrong' with the principals.

Admiral, at his best when outbattling Faasel at Haydock a week earlier, ran no sort of race on this occasion and his rider reported to the stewards that this race came too soon.