Saint Are to maintain the Aintree record, this time with Betfred Becher Handicap Chase
Trainer, Tim Vaughan, is highly confident about the potential and capability of his six-year-old under charge, Saint Are, and thusly has selected him for the £110,000 Betfred Becher Handicap Chase at Aintree.
The gelding has picked such a form that no race or effort seems to bother him or tire him easily.
Vaughan said: "Saint Are has come out of the Hennessy absolutely fine. We are going to school him on Wednesday morning and Thursday morning to see how he jumps and, if that goes well, we will definitely give the Betfred Becher Chase serious consideration.”
"It was very frustrating on Saturday because everything had gone really well in the build up to the Hennessy and we were anticipating a big run from him. It was a soft fall as he just nudged the top of the fence but couldn't get his legs out.”
Even though the six-year-old bay/brown French gelding was far from out class in his last trip, the connections are still truly positive about his potential to make it all out in this one.
He fell in the Grade 3 Hennessy Gold Cup (Handicap) on 1st December, 2012 at Newbury race course over three miles and 2 ½ furlongs.
The race was won by the favourite entry of trainer, Nicky Henderson, Bobs Worth, who defeated Tidal Bay by 3 ¼ lengths.
Network’s gelding closed the previous season with the John Smith’s Handicap Chase (Listed Race) on 14th April, 2012 at Aintree over three mile and a furlong.
The boosting confidence that the connections have in the under charge, had he not fallen, maybe he just have dominated the final flights and taken the race away.
His record at Aintree is flawless in a manner that during the previous campaign he won the Grade 1 John Smith’s Sefton Novices Hurdle on 8th April, 2011 at Aintree race course over three miles and half a furlong.
Betfred, the sponsor of the race has backed Saint Are by 12 to 1 shot for the spectacle. The somewhat constant rains have not presented any threat yet, but for how long the ground conditions will persist safe, cannot be confirmed.
As in the case of Fighting Fifth Hurdle, many entries were drawn back.
Tags: