The strong pace suited Captain Ivan who jumped well and stayed on strongly under Patrick Cowley.
CAPTAIN IVAN was 0-6 over fences previously but he got a good pace to aim at here and effectively had this won when jumping to the front two out. These conditions suit him best. QUOTES: CAPTAIN IVAN tends to travel well but not find too much off the bridle. They went a really good gallop though and pace in a race is what he wants. Patrick Cowley, rider.
The well bred Glen Cannel (by Flemensfirth) stayed on well in the testing ground at Market Rasen to record a well earned victory on his hurdles debut.
GLEN CANNEL, third when sent off favourite on debut for a Worcester bumper in September, struck at the first time of asking over hurdles, appreciating the step up in trip and sticking to his task pleasingly. His dam developed into a useful hurdler and his future looks quite bright.
A winning chasing debut and on his first run for the yard, Notlongtillmay jumped well for Patrick Cowley apart from a slight blunder at the last.
NOTLONGTILLMAY had been given a break since winning in a first-time hood (bled from the nose) over hurdles at Fontwell in January, and gained due reward for a mostly fluent round of jumping on chasing and handicap debut. He appeared to relish these conditions on first start for Laura Morgan (in the same ownership) and should have plenty more to offer.
Supreme Yeats continued the great form of the yard by winning well at Southwell under a polished ride from Adam Wedge.
SUPREME YEATS ran well over C&D when last seen, his first start for 397 days, and duly built on that to pick up a first win. He should have more to offer, this just being his eighth outing when including one point run.
After an absence of 244 days, Radetzky March turned up Cherry ripe at Market Rasen to win cosily under a fine ride from yard conditional jockey Lewis Dobb.
RADETZKY MARCH, ridden chilly out the back early on, found just enough for pressure to defy a 244-day absence and continue his rapid improvement over fences. Successful on his chasing debut off a mark of just 77 at Fakenham in February and at Leicester off 84 later that month, he'd been beaten favourite twice since, but is still only seven and was aided by a 7lb claimer for the first time. He seemed to do just enough on the run-in, which could make things tricky for the handicapper.
Yard Conditional Jockey, Lewis Dobb continued his excellent partnership with Big Changes, winning the 3m chase at Ayr in fine style.
BIG CHANGES followed up his recent Sedgefield victory with another convincing success under his penalty, this longer trip and softer ground not hindering him at all. Now 2-3 over fences, he is at home in this discipline and, given this was only eighth start, it would be surprising if he was unable to improve further and win more races.
Given a fine ride by yard conditional jockey Lewis Dobb, Big Changes got off the mark over fences at the second time of asking, a big leap at the last putting the contest to bed !
BIG CHANGES, who went without the headgear combination he wore on Wednesday's Wetherby chase debut, took a step forward from that, a good jump at the last sealing it. He's lightly raced enough to think there should be more to come and he'll remain of interest, be it turned out unpenalised or once reassessed (can't go up too much)..
Tardree won the valuable Bobby Renton Chase at Wetherby under a positive ride from Adam Wedge who has just returned from a spell on the sidelines due to injury.
TARDREE, a faller in the Summer Plate when last seen over fences, has been in good form back hurdling since and he attacked his fences from the off here. Luck was on his side, however, and he doesn't have much in hand from his current mark.
The outsider of three, The Vollan won his fourth chase of the season under Brian Hughes.
THE VOLLAN bounced back to form after running flat over slightly further at Cartmel 34 days beforehand. His jumping was lower and quicker than his sole remaining rival as the race developed in earnest. The 8yo was registering a career-best effort over fences. His considerably lower hurdles rating may prove too temping to ignore for too much longer.
On going that was perhaps a touch on the easy side for him, Clear The Runway was the impressive winner of the most valuable race on the card at Worcester. Expertly ridden by Champion Jockey, Brian Hughes.
CLEAR THE RUNWAY returning from a 105-day break, has thrived in cheekpieces this year but added a seventh success with that headgear left off, readily defying a mark 37lb higher than his initial success in February. This would have been as soft as he would want it but he's still progressing so there's every chance he'll remain competitive. QUOTES: I took the tongue-tie off CLEAR THE RUNWAY and he's flown since. He's settled into our routine and has thrived. It's been great. I'm not too sure where we'll go, I gave him a break thinking he could go all the way through the winter but I'm a bit put off as Brian [Hughes] said that's as soft as he wants it - Laura Morgan, trainer.
