Full Result 12.45 Cheltenham | 9 December 2005

December Novices' Chase Class B

(Class 2) (5yo+) (3m1f56yds) 3m1½f New Good To Soft 21 fences

1st £10,099.08 2nd £2,983.13 3rd £1,491.56 4th £746.59 5th £372.49

Pos. (Draw)	Horse / SP Trainer / Jockey	Jockey Trainer	Age	WGT	OR	TS	RPR	MR
1	2. Darkness 13/8F A P McCoy Charles Egerton	A P McCoy Charles Egerton	6	118	149	121	156	–
ch g Accordion (IRE) - Winnowing (IRE) (Strong Gale)
Held up in rear but in touch, not fluent 5th, hit 13th, headway 16th, hit 4 out, chased leader next, slight lead 2 out, came clear last, comfortably (tchd 2-1and 6-4 in places)

2 8	4. Zabenz (NZ) 11/4 Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs	Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs	8	115 b	–	111	143	–
b g Zabeel (NZ) - In The Country (NZ) (In The Purple)
Led, not fluent 8th, hit 11th, ridden after 3 out, narrowly headed next, outpaced last (op 4-1)

3 18 [26]	1. Billyvoddan (IRE) 7/2 Robert Thornton Henry Daly	Robert Thornton Henry Daly	6	118	–	100	127	–
b g Accordion (IRE) - Derryclare (Pollerton)
Chased leaders, mistake 2nd, went 2nd 12th, hit 14th, blundered and lost 2nd 3 out, soon weakened (op 5-2)

4 ¾ [26¾]	5. Back Nine (IRE) 5/1 Andrew Thornton R H Alner	Andrew Thornton R H Alner	8	110	120	91	117	–
b g Bob Back (USA) - Sylvia Fox (Deep Run)
Behind, headway 15th, weakened 4 out, not fluent next (op 11-2 tchd 9-2 and 6-1 in places)

5 dist [56¾]	3. Goblet Of Fire (USA) 20/1 Christian Williams Paul Nicholls	Christian Williams Paul Nicholls	6	118 b	–	–	100	–
b g Green Desert (USA) - Laurentine (USA) (Private Account)
Chased leader, hit 11th, weakened 13th, hit next, soon tailed off (op 16-1 tchd 14-1)