Thunder Rock and Monmiral poised for Cheltenham showdown

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Olly Murphy expects to have a clearer idea about Thunder Rock’s potential ambitions for the rest of the season after he takes on Monmiral at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

The Paul Nicholls-trained Monmiral is the likely favourite for a Grade Two contest more commonly known as ‘The Dipper’, having won at Grade One level over hurdles and finished best of the rest behind star novice Jonbon on his chasing debut at Warwick in November.

Thunder Rock, on the other hand, has climbed the ranks through handicaps, but has been seriously impressive in winning his two starts over fences to date at Uttoxeter and Ascot.

The assessor has him rated 2lb higher than Monmiral ahead of their clash in the Paddy Power Novices’ Chase, and Murphy is looking forward to seeing how he fares in this higher grade.

He said: “Thunder Rock is a lovely horse and has taken very well to fences. He was a good hurdler last season but we thought he would improve for a fence, which he has done in his two starts this season.

“This trip will suit him perfectly and he appears to be on an upward curve, but we will know where we stand after this. He is a horse that we think plenty of and he already has a mark of 150.

“I thought he would improve going chasing but you never know how much they will improve. The handicapper has him a stone better over fences.

“If he wins I would think he would then head to Sandown Park for the Scilly Isles. If not, we will make alternative arrangements.”

He added: “We had him in the Wayward Lad at Kempton, but we all thought in the end that two miles around there might just be on the sharp side for him. Hopefully we have made the right decision.”

Monmiral alongside Jonbon at Warwick
Monmiral alongside Jonbon at Warwick (David Davies/PA)

Nicholls is confident Monmiral will improve from his initial effort over fences and prove hard to beat.

“His jumping was very good on his debut over fences when he chased home Jonbon over two miles at Warwick in November last month,” the Ditcheat handler told Betfair.

“This race was the ideal choice for Monmiral with softer ground and and the step up in trip to two and a half miles very much in his favour. He is a high-class horse who has plenty going for him.”

Nigel Twiston-Davies saddles Beauport – winner of the Coral Parker Memorial Chase at Carlisle before being put in his place by Dan Skelton’s Ballygrifincottage at Haydock.

Patrick Neville’s course winner The Real Whacker returns to the Cotswolds, while Harper’s Brook has his sights raised by Ben Pauling following victory in a novice handicap chase at Bangor.

Pauling said: “It is a big step up, but we’ll see how we get on.

“I think the better the race the better he’ll run. He jumps well, he travels well and we’re looking forward to it.

“It would be lovely if we got some rain. He will handle good to soft ground, but if we had a bit more rain it would suit him.”

Fergal O’Brien’s outsider Mortlach completes the field.

Stellar names adorn Mark Johnston’s glittering training CV

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With a record number of career winners, there are obviously plenty of horses Mark Johnston can look back on with fond memories. While the likes of Branston Abby, Yavana’s Pace and Fruits Of Love all deserve honourable mentions, here are six of the top horses from the team that was ‘Always Trying’:

Attraction

Attraction winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas
Attraction winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas (PA)

This filly defied her famously unconventional action to bag five Group One wins, including both the English and Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2004. Johnston showed patience in spades to nurse her back from injury during her four-year-old season, with that skill paying dividends as she signed off her career with Matron Stakes glory at Leopardstown.

Shamardal

Shamardal winning the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket
Shamardal winning the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket (Chris Radburn/PA)

This horse has become of one of the key sires of recent times and it was Johnston who guided his unbeaten three-start juvenile career, culminating in a comprehensive Dewhurst Stakes win in 2004. Shamardal was subsequently transferred to Saeed bin Suroor, for whom he won three Group Ones before injury ended his career.

Double Trigger

Double Trigger was one of the great stayers
Double Trigger was one of the great stayers (John Giles/PA)

This flashy chestnut with a big white blaze built up quite a following by virtue of his eyecatching looks and bold running style. He completed the stayers’ grand slam in 1995, winning the Ascot, Goodwood and Doncaster Cups. He has a statue in his honour on Town Moor after winning the Doncaster Cup three times, while he also completed a hat-trick at Goodwood.

Royal Rebel

Royal Rebel and Johnny Murtagh (right) winning the Gold Cup
Royal Rebel and Johnny Murtagh (right) winning the Gold Cup (Tom Hevezi/PA)

Involved in one of the most famous Ascot Gold Cup battles ever, Royal Rebel showed guts aplenty to edge out Persian Punch by a head after the pair slugged it out in the final furlong in 2001. Not the most straightforward of animals, Johnston got him back to top form for the Royal meeting the following year, when he rallied after looking beaten to see off Vinnie Roe by a neck.

Mister Baileys

Mister Baileys and Jason Weaver (centre) winning the 2000 Guineas
Mister Baileys and Jason Weaver (centre) winning the 2000 Guineas (John Stillwell/PA)

A landmark horse in Johnston’s career, Mister Baileys was a dual Group-race winner as a juvenile, but was allowed to go off a 16-1 shot when he won the 2000 Guineas by the shortest of short heads in 1994. Connections opted to take the brave route and head to Epsom for the Derby, but having sat clear with half a mile to run, he ran out of gas and faded into fourth.

Subjectivist

Joe Fanning and Subjectivist after winning the 2021 Gold Cup
Joe Fanning and Subjectivist after winning the 2021 Gold Cup (Steven Paston/PA)

This son of Teofilo was Johnston’s most recent and ultimately final staying star – winning the Prix Royal-Oak, the Dubai Gold Cup and last year’s Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in the space of nine months. He looked like he might become the new dominant force in the division after the most recent of those triumphs, but a subsequent injury means he has not been seen since.

Mark Johnston: From humble beginnings to British racing’s winning machine

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From growing up on an East Kilbride council estate to becoming the most successful trainer in British racing history. It is fair to say it has been quite a journey for Mark Johnston.

Born in Glasgow on October 10, 1959, Johnston became interested in racing through his father, who had been a groom in the army and owned horses.

Johnston – who will no longer have a joint-licence in partnership with his son, Charlie – was intent on becoming a trainer from the age of 14, but after being educated at Callender High School, his parents insisted he took a degree and a five-year veterinary course at Glasgow led to him working in a practice for a further three years.

Johnston, however, has never been one to shirk a challenge and, along with his childhood sweetheart Deirdre, whom he married in 1985, he upped sticks and bought a yard in Lincolnshire the following year, from where he commenced his training career in 1987.

Double Trigger was one of Mark Johnston's first top-class horses
Double Trigger was one of Mark Johnston’s first top-class horses (David Cheskin/PA)

Despite starting from scratch with what he described as only “three and a half paying horses” and gallops that were part of an RAF target practice range, it did not take the Glasgow-born rookie long to hit the target, with Hinari Video giving him his first winner when striking gold at Carlisle in the July of his first year with a licence.

Hinari Video was no star, but went on to run in a further 126 races and won another 11, making him the first example of the archetypal Johnston-trained horse who retained his enthusiasm and would keep coming back for more.

In 1988, the Mark and Deirdre moved to the small North Yorkshire market town of Middleham after buying Kingsley House, an empire which has now extended to two further yards, creating a major complex covering 270 acres.

Undoubtedly aided by his veterinary background, Johnston has ensured his equine inmates have everything they need to fulfil their potential including three separate grass gallops; an all-weather Tapeta gallop; an equine swimming pool; weighbridges and starting stalls.

Mark Johnston is stepping aside from his role as joint-trainer with his son, Charlie
Mark Johnston is stepping aside from his role as joint-trainer with his son, Charlie (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

Ever since that move to Middleham, the winners were churned out with amazing regularity at all levels.

Johnston registered his first century of winners in 1994 and achieved three-figure tallies every year since – from 2009, he chalked up 200 or more successes on 10 occasions.

Johnston, whose well-established stable motto was ‘Always Trying’, saddled his first 1,000 winners in record time – 90 days quicker than the previous record holder in the late, great Sir Henry Cecil.

If anything, the Johnston juggernaut has subsequently gathered further momentum as it took him just four and a half years to move from 3,000 to 4,000 winners. In August 2018 he eclipsed Richard Hannon as Britain’s winning-most trainer when Poet’s Society won at York, ridden by Frankie Dettori.

Along the way were Classic victories for Attraction (1000 Guineas) and Mister Baileys (2000 Guineas), while the exploits of Double Trigger are etched in the annals of the staying division.

Frankie Dettori rode Poet's Society, Mark Johnston's landmark winner
Frankie Dettori rode Poet’s Society, Mark Johnston’s landmark winner (Tim Goode/PA)

Paying his tribute to Johnston at the time, the prolific Martin Pipe said: “It’s a marvellous achievement and I’m delighted for him. I read the other day
that I was his inspiration, which is nice. It’s a wonderful achievement and I admire him very much.”

And Derby-winning trainer Charlie Appleby added: “He is the ultimate professional and his results and statistics only speak for themselves.”

Johnston was president of the National Trainers Federation in 2003 and has never been shy of having his views on racing politics heard.

In fact, he is a former director of the sport’s ruling body, the British Horseracing Authority, where he represented the interests of trainers and fellow horsemen.

Mark and Deirdre have two sons in Charlie and Angus. Like his father, Charlie is a qualified vet and joined his father on the licence early in 2021, with the pair enjoying a Group One victory with Dubai Mile at Saint-Cloud in October – the same horse that made it 5,000 career winners for Johnston when striking at Kempton in August.

Record-breaking Mark Johnston relinquishing joint-licence with son Charlie

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Mark Johnston – the trainer of more winners in the history of British racing than anyone else – is relinquishing his role as joint-trainer with his son, Charlie, although he is keen to stress he is not retiring.

Johnston, 63, who is responsible for over 5,000 victories, went into partnership with his son earlier this year.

While it was always the intention for Charlie to take sole control of the yard at some point, it was not expected to be so soon. Three horses have been entered to run next week in just Charlie’s name.

Mark Johnston (left) and his son Charlie watching the action at Goodwood
Mark Johnston (left) and his son Charlie watching the action at Goodwood (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

“Charlie’s had a sole licence since the beginning of last week. A lot of the horses have already been transferred over, who didn’t have entries,” Johnston told the PA news agency.

“It was only those who had entries today and tomorrow that are still on the joint-licence.

“It has just been coming. Nothing has really changed in terms of our roles. They will continue. I just didn’t feel that the joint-licence worked. It served a purpose and I’m not saying they shouldn’t have joint-licences, I just felt it was a bit of a limbo.

“When we had big successes, Charlie wasn’t getting credit for the part he plays. I just felt that if we were to have a spectacular winner somewhere, it wouldn’t be quite the same as being an individual.

“We went to a joint-licence at the beginning of last year and the plan was it would be at least three or four years, but I just felt there was no point. I just felt it should be one name.

Attraction was a brilliant performer for Mark Johnston
Attraction was a brilliant performer for Mark Johnston (Gareth Fuller/PA)

“I’ll still be there, doing the same hours, but in not quite the same capacity as my name won’t be on the licence.”

Johnston – whose great horses included Attraction, Mister Baileys, Shamardal and the hugely-popular Double Trigger – added: “I just felt the joint-licence was a bit of a pointless exercise. I think in order to get to the races and so on, I will have to have a stable pass for the first time. This will be the first time I have ever been employed by another trainer!

“I’m one of the few, if maybe not the only person, who has never been employed by anyone else.

“None of the licensing really reflects the true situation, as we are both employees of a limited company and nothing changes that. The company has been in existence since 1988 and that hasn’t changed. I’m not retiring.”

Frankie Dettori with Mark Johnston after riding Poet’s Society to a record-breaking victory at York
Frankie Dettori with Mark Johnston after riding Poet’s Society to a record-breaking victory at York (Tim Goode/PA)

The Johnstons enjoyed Group One success together this season with Dubai Mile in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud in October, with the colt now viewed as a Derby prospect. The same horse provided Johnston senior with his 5,000th winner at Kempton in August.

Born in Glasgow, his career began in humble beginnings in March 1987 in Lincolnshire before moving to Middleham in 1988, and it has been a success story ever since.

He trained a century of winners for the first time in 1994 and has trained 200 or more on 10 occasions, taking over from Richard Hannon senior as Britain’s winning-most trainer when 20-1 chance Poet’s Society won under Frankie Dettori at York in August 2018.

Nicholls relies on Hermes Allen for Challow hat-trick

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Paul Nicholls is poised to unleash Hermes Allen on Newbury as he attempts to win the Coral Challow Novices’ Hurdle for the third year in a row.

The champion trainer has targeted the race with some of his stable’s finest talent over the years, with Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman landing the spoils in 2006 and recent King George VI Chase victor Bravemansgame scoring two years ago.

Stage Star made it back-to-back victories for the Ditcheat handler 12 months ago and now he looks for his fifth win overall in the Grade One contest with the unbeaten Hermes Allen.

The five-year-old, who cost £350,000 following a victory between the flags at Kirkistown, bolted up by 27 lengths on his debut at Stratford and added to his tally in emphatic style at Cheltenham in November, making all for a nine-length victory in a competitive-looking Grade Two contest.

“He looks to have a decent chance of completing the hat-trick for the yard in this Grade One race following the success of Bravemansgame in 2020 and Stage Star last year. Like them, Hermes Allen is on an upward curve having won both his starts for us from the front,” Nicholls told Betfair.

“He surprised me a bit by winning easily on his debut at Stratford as he hadn’t shown much at home but he has sharpened up no end since then, was impressive in a stronger race at Cheltenham and has improved a fair bit since.

“Hermes Allen schooled on Thursday morning and is in great shape. While this is the slowest ground he has raced on this season, it’s encouraging that he handled soft going in his point-to-points.”

Paul Nolan’s Joyeux Machin looks the pick of two Irish raiders in the 14-strong field. The form of his hurdling debut got a boost at Naas recently and he followed up that opening third with a taking display to get off the mark over obstacles at Fairyhouse. Kansas City Star was third on that occasion and also crosses the Irish Sea for Gordon Elliott.

Dan Skelton saddled West Balboa to finish second in the race 12 months ago and attempts to go one better for the same connections with Vicki Vale, who was a ready 17-length winner on her rules debut at Hereford.

“She’s definitely got a chance and she won very easily for us first time,” said Skelton.

“I’ve always had it in mind to step her up in grade and obviously this is a massive step up. But we were second in the race with West Balboa for the same owners last year and we thought why not have a go.

“She gets 7lb from the boys and is in very good form and we’ll go there optimistic of a very good run. I’m not saying she’ll win, but she will run really well. It’s a very, very tough race, but she’s in great form.”

David Pipe’s Thomas Mor was an emphatic 57-length scorer at Wincanton when last sighted.

“It looks a very hot race, but he has done nothing wrong so far,” said the Pond House handler.

“It is a step up in grade, but he deserves to take his chance and we’ll find out a lot more about him.

“His races so far have probably not been the strongest, but he deserves to have a go at it and he wouldn’t want the ground too soft, so it should be OK for him at Newbury.”

Fergal O’Brien won this with Poetic Rhythm in 2017 and looks to follow the same path with Persian War winner Accidental Rebel, while the Ravenswell Farm handler is also represented by the unbeaten Crambo and hat-trick-seeking Marble Sands.

Another handler who is well represented is Jamie Snowden, who saddles the four-timer seeking You Wear It Well and £185,000 Irish recruit Passing Well, who made a bright start to life in the UK when winning at Uttoxeter.

“You Wear It Well has done very little wrong in her career really,” said Snowden.

“She finished second in a bumper, won a bumper and has then won two hurdles. She was going to go to the Listed mares’ race at Haydock that was called off a few weeks ago, but this looks the obvious alternative.

Trainer Jamie Snowden saddles two in the Coral Challow Novices' Hurdle
Trainer Jamie Snowden saddles two in the Coral Challow Novices’ Hurdle (Mike Egerton/PA)

“It is a very competitive race and she has got to step forward once again, but she gets a 7lb allowance for her sex and she’s very unexposed. We’ll find out how good she is here.”

He continued: “Passing Well finished second at the Punchestown Festival in a bumper in the spring before coming over to us in the summer and won very nicely first time out at Uttoxeter.

“He’s definitely going to want a trip and he’s a lovely straightforward individual who jumps well and gallops well. He goes there with a chance but it’s a highly competitive race.”

Idalko Bihou (Nigel Twiston-Davies), Kilbeg King (Anthony Honeyball) and Moka De Vassey (Jane Williams) complete the line-up.

Nicky Martin ends big week with 200-1 surprise at Taunton

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Just three days after winning the Welsh National with The Two Amigos, trainer Nicky Martin was celebrating again when the 200-1 chance Inspiratrice ran out victorious at Taunton.

Heading into Christmas Martin had only trained two winners this season, but she will not be forgetting this festive period in a hurry.

With her stable stalwart providing her with the biggest success of her career at Chepstow on Tuesday, Inspiratrice and Sean Bowen were surprisingly friendless in the market.

The three-year-old filly had shown precious little in two previous starts but dropped right out by Bowen, she steadily moved into contention before pulling clear of Fourofakind to win the Alne Park Stud Juvenile Hurdle by four and a half lengths.

When asked if she thought Inspiratrice would win, Martin replied: “In a word, no.

“It was her third run and while I like her, I didn’t think she was good enough.

“But she enjoyed the ground and because they went a decent pace it suited her as she’s quite gassy. Sean was able to just drop her in and let it all unfold.

“The last twice she’s run there’s been no pace and she’s burnt out, but she got into a nice rhythm today and won comfortably.”

Martin was not on course at Chepstow having been hit by a bad dose of flu, but said: “I’m at Taunton today, this has been my first venture out!”

Astapor was a 200-1 winner at Hamilton in June. The longest-priced winner in history is Equinoctial who won at Kelso in 1990 at 250-1.

Elsewhere on the card, Harry Fry’s Credrojava (4-1) maintained her unbeaten record when gamely landing the Byerley Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, running down Dan Skelton’s odds-on favourite She’s A Saint after the last.

Jet Powered up for latest test of big-race credentials at Newbury

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Jet Powered, second in the ante-post lists for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in March, continues his education at Newbury on Saturday.

Nicky Henderson is keen not to ask too many questions too early of the Joe Donnelly-owned five-year-old, who was a very impressive 11-length winner on his hurdling debut at Newbury in November.

He faces 10 rivals in the Coral Racing Club Join For Free ‘Introductory’ Hurdle, and Henderson will be hoping he has a credible challenger to Facile Vega in the Festival opener in March should all go according to plan.

“The aim has always been to be patient and go steady with him because he’s quite an ‘enthusiastic’ horse at home which is why we aren’t putting him straight in at the deep end and I don’t want to overface him at this stage of his career,” said Henderson in his Unibet blog.

“That said, he is a very nice horse, as we all saw last time, and I hope he will develop into a high-class animal.

“This is another part of the learning process and we’ll know more after this.”

His chief rival may well be Gary Moore’s Inneston. He won a French AQPS bumper at Le Mans, beating Irish Point.

The runner-up subsequently joined Gordon Elliott and was a head second to Marine Nationale in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle on his most recent outing.

Moore set to raise Givega’s sights after Fontwell strike

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Givega is set to step up in grade having enhanced his reputation at Fontwell on Boxing Day.

Winner of a Tralee point-to-point for Colin Bowe in May 2021, the son of Authorized was ultra-impressive when making his belated debut under rules at Lingfield in November, bolting up by 13 lengths.

Keen to get some more experience into the highly regarded six-year-old – who is out of a sister to the great six-time Cheltenham Festival winner Quevega – Gary Moore sent his charge to one of his local tracks under a penalty over the festive period.

He came through the assignment with flying colours, making all and quickening well when briefly challenged two out to record a five-length success.

Now the Sussex-based handler is keen to test his exciting prospect in Graded company and is not against stepping up in trip with Givega on his next start.

“I was delighted,” said Moore. “He had to make all his own running and he had a little blip in the week before his run which kind of worried me, but he has still come through and won as he did, so I was highly delighted and he’s a very nice horse that I think quite highly of.

“I’m not sure where he could go next. The Tolworth might be an option, but that will probably come too soon and I will probably run the other horse in that (Authorised Speed). So I need to get my head into the programme book and see where there are some hurdle races.

“He does need soft ground – it wasn’t that soft at Fontwell, it was given as good to soft, but it was more good ground to be honest.

“It’ll have to be a step up in grade now as he has a double penalty, even though he needs some more experience really. But I think it will have to be a step up in grade.

“He’ll get two and a half (miles) and potentially get three, so he could step up in trip.”

Scudamore: Still more to come from Ahoy Senor

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Peter Scudamore is not a man given to making excuses, yet reluctantly concedes the recent cold snap may have contributed to Ahoy Senor’s fifth-place finish in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton.

Winner of the Grade One Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree in April, the Lucinda Russell-trained seven-year-old has yet to score in three starts this term and was beaten 33 lengths by Bravemansgame in the Boxing Day feature.

Last season’s high-class novice jumped with plenty of fluency out of the soft ground in the three-mile event, which pleased connections, even if the result left something to be desired.

Russell’s partner and assistant, eight-time champion jockey Scudamore, said Ahoy Senor was not disgraced and could now head to the Grade Two Paddy Power Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham on January 28.

“It’s funny really, I had been worried about his jumping, I got his jumping right but I’ve got to get his galloping right,” said Scudamore.

“I was disappointed, but when you are dealing with a horse at that level, you get disappointed. If I want to grasp at straws and make excuses, I think we have run one or two who, once the snow came, I couldn’t get them on the main gallop. I hate using those excuses, but I do think that.

“He was fifth in a King George and I know L’Homme Presse unseated at the last, but he hasn’t disgraced himself.”

Too keen on his return in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby, and not fluent early on when a close-up third to last season’s Grand National winner Noble Yeats in the Many Clouds at Aintree, Ahoy Senor made just one minor jumping error in the King George.

“It is not show jumping,” said Scudamore. “I thought he jumped well. It is the first time since Aintree that he has got all his jumping together.

“I’ve no complaints with his jumping. We have just got to get him galloping and we probably needed a gallop or two more.

“Some of the horses it suits, some of the heavier horses it doesn’t. It is my job to get them right.

“I think with better ground and better preparation, there is some more to come.”

Though some pundits suggested that the Sunbury track would not play to the strengths of the Bruce Wymer-owned Dylan Thomas gelding, Scudamore was quick to dispel those arguments.

He added: “Even last year, people blamed the track, but I don’t think the track made any difference to him. He’s run well at Cheltenham, he’s run well at Liverpool, he jumped well round Kempton. So, let’s get the facts out – I think he handles any track.

Corach Rambler has Lingfield option
Corach Rambler has Lingfield option (Nigel French/PA)

“I think when he gets the right race, when he’s right, he’ll win again.”

Russell and Scudamore will try to keep Ahoy Senor and fellow stable star Corach Rambler apart, although the latter, winner of the the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March, could return to the Prestbury Park track next month should he not run on Winter Millions day at Lingfield on January 22.

Scudamore said: “It depends on the ground. I wouldn’t run Ahoy if it is very soft at Cheltenham, but he might go to the Cotswold Chase.

“Corach Rambler has got Lingfield or the Cotswold Chase. I think he might go to the Fleur De Lys and if the ground was very soft at Cheltenham, he might go to the Cotswold Chase, but I’d favour Lingfield. We’ll see closer to the time.”

The two miles and six furlongs Fleur De Lys chase could prove a stepping stone to the Grand National for Corach Rambler, who was a staying-on fourth to Le Milos in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury last month.

With the David Pipe-trained runner-up Remastered backing that up with an authoritative win over three miles at Kempton on Tuesday, Scudamore is hopeful the eight-year-old can follow suit.

“I was delighted to see Remastered frank the form,” he added. “The Coral Gold Cup was the best staying handicap this side of the water.

“I was pleased with his run, so Corach is going to have his first piece of work since that run today (Friday). He’ll have two runs before the Grand National – that’s the dream.”

National bid on Pipe’s radar for Kempton victor Remastered

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David Pipe believes there is a conversation to be had about the Randox Grand National following Remastered’s victory at Kempton over Christmas.

Victory in the Ladbrokes Play “1-2-Free” On Football Handicap Chase on Tuesday was the first time the nine-year-old has got his head in front over fences since landing the Grade Two Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase in 2021.

But he has proved to be in rude health this season following a wind operation in the summer, scoring over hurdles on reappearance before finishing an agonising second in the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury in November.

He headed to the Sunbury track off a 4lb higher mark and defied plenty of problems both at the start and during the race to carry top-weight to a commanding four-and-a-half-length victory in a performance his handler regards as a career best.

“It looked like it was going to be a bit of a disaster,” said Pipe. “Not a lot went right in the race and he still managed to win, so it was a lovely performance. It was probably a career best and he has finished very strongly.”

Remastered’s strength at the back-end of his races this season seems to have convinced his handler to think about tackling the famous spruce at Aintree in the spring and the master of Pond House will now sit down with owners Brocade Racing to devise a plan for the rest of the campaign.

On the possibility of lining up in the National on April 15, Pipe added: “We haven’t had chance to speak about it at the present moment, but the way he is finishing his races this season, you would like to think he will get further.

“I haven’t been convinced in the past, but he has definitely been strong at the finish this season, so it will definitely be a conversation we will be having at some point.

“It will possibly be Haydock next, we’ll see what the handicapper does and then sit down with the owners and have a chat.”