1st - €19,987.50 2nd - €6,500.00 3rd - €3,250.00 4th - €1,625.00 5th - €812.50 Overcast

FormscanBy Eamonn Murphy - RATHVINDEN might be able to concede weight away all round. In his Time Will Tell column in the Irish Field last weekend Simon Rowlands said: "The saying is that autumn rides in on the tail of the last horse in the St Leger (which was The Anvil) but some meaningful indicators for what lies ahead have already been put down. Last week's Listowel Festival took place on what might be termed "proper winter ground," with my going allowances indicating some of the most testing conditions seen anywhere in the last year. There were, all the same, a handful of useful efforts against the clock. Kylecrue returned a 142 time-figure in winning a handicap chase on the Sunday before flopping in the Kerry National on Wednesday won by Potters Point with a 146 time-figure. Potters Point himself had last been beaten in a Grade 3 at Galway by Rathvinden, and the latter was back to winning ways in a novice chase on the Saturday of Listowel, scoring by 20 lengths in by some way the best relative time on the card. Rathvinden has claims to be considered the best novice chaser seen in either Ireland or Britain so far, with his 147 time-figure here only about 10 below what is usually required to win a race like the JLT Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March. That said, Rathvinden will be 10 in the New Year, so time is not exactly on his side."

A novice steeplechase for four yrs old and upwards
Weights - 4-y-o 10st 6lb; 5-y-o and up 11st 2lb; Mares allowed 7lb
Penalties - (handicaps excluded) Winner of two steeplechases 3lb extra; Of three steeplechases or of a Grade 3 steeplechase 6lb extra; Of two Grade 3 steeplechases or of a Grade 2 steeplechase 8lb extra; Of a Grade 1 steeplechase 10lb extra; HRI Directive 6 (ii) (b) is suspended for the purpose of this race.