Tote Win £9.10 Tote Place £2.70 £2.30 £2.50 £7.30 Straight Forecast £57.71 Exacta £68.20 Trifecta £1,137.30 Swingers 1&2 £20.10, 2&3 £30.80, 1&3 £21.20

Jackpot £65,769.68 carried forward to Cheltenham, 18th Nov
Placepot £195.70, Pool: £292363.75, 1090.31 winning tickets
Quadpot £146.60, Pool: £13920.41, 70.22 winning tickets

If Ruby Walsh had any doubts as to whether AL FEROF would benefit from the step up in trip, he certainly showed no fear in the ride he gave the winner. Keeping him wide and handy throughout, his partner settled perfectly despite seeing plenty of daylight and skipped over the fences while others began to blunder away their chances. Turning for home it seemed that there were still half a dozen in with a chance, but Walsh had kept something up his sleeve and the winner was comfortably able to deal with the challenge of the admirable Walkon after the final fence. It's all too easy to be clever after the event but on pedigree Al Ferof might well have been crying out for this greater test. His sire Dom Alco produces very few horses who don't appreciate three miles and beyond. As such the move up to three miles and next month's King George VI Chase looks entirely justifiable. He was winning here off a mark of 159 and a rise of 8-10lb will make his life very hard in handicap company in any case. Walkon joined Al Ferof at the second last but was unable to match his effort from that point. It was a hugely-creditable performance and he will surely get back on the winning trail soon. Nadiya De La Vega was right in the firing line two out but just faltered in the closing stages. She has gone best fresh in the past and could be the sort who has a quiet time in the depths of winter before returning for a crack at a decent prize in the spring. Casey Top relished being able to adopt his usual frontrunning role and earns full marks for effort. Quicker ground might have helped. Only six finished and that tells its own story about the influence that a relatively small amount of overnight rain ultimately had on the ground. Grands Crus was reported by Tom Scudamore to have never been travelling but he was still in the perfect spot to challenge three out before dropping away. He is worth another chance and might maybe prefer being able to dominate his races. Hunt Ball was under pressure before three out and disappointed, but The Disengager deserves credit for his performance as he was right there on ground that was far more testing than he appreciates before tiring after three out.