DESSIE HUGHES will look to win the totesport.com Becher Chase at Aintree on Sunday for a second successive year with Vic Venturi.
The Irish trainer sent out Black Apalachi to score a wide-margin victory in testing conditions in the 3m2f handicap over the Grand National fences last November.
Vic Venturi is the sponsors 7-1 favourite for the Becher and Hughes thinks the nine-year-old, who won on his seasonal reappearance at Clonmel last month, should be ideally suited by test on Merseyside.
The Kildare trainer said: “I think we will run him in the Becher on Sunday. I think he’s a National-type of horse so there’s no harm in giving him a go round the track.”
Vic Venturi was among the 24 horses entered at yesterday’s six-day declaration stage, and Gordon Elliot’s 2007 John Smith’s Grand National hero Silver Birch was among them.
The 12-year-old also won the Becher when in the care of champion trainer Paul Nicholls and he was sixth to Garde Champetre in a cross country chase at Cheltenham last Friday.
Several horses with good course form are also entered, although Evan Williams is yet to decide if State of Play will take his chance again over the National fences.
The nine-year-old was a fine fourth to Mon Mome in the Grand National earlier this year and is currently totesport’s 8-1 second favourite for this Sunday’s contest.
But Williams is waiting to decide if he takes his place at Aintree again on Sunday. He said: “The Becher is an option for State Of Play at the moment. We also gave him an entry in the ‘Fixed Brush’ Handicap Hurdle and he’s in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury as well.
“The original plan was to give him a couple of starts over hurdles and then go for the Grand National. But he is so well with himself at the moment that we wanted to give him entries over fences.
“Chasing is his game but I just wanted to see what the handicapper would do with him over hurdles.
“He jumped so well in the National last season that it would have been silly not to give him the option of the Becher Chase. I had thought that he wouldn’t be ready to race until Christmas time but he seems fresh, happy and well so we gave him the entries and keep on eye on them.
“He has won on soft ground so it wouldn’t be too much of a concern for us.”
Hoo La Baloo’s owner Andy Stewart is hoping to give his Nicholls-trained eight-year-old a taste of the Aintree obstacles before returning for the National next April.
Stewart said: “He has been entered in the Becher and the idea is to give him a run over the big fences with a view to going for the National.
“He is rated in the 140s so he should get a run in the National.”
Other interesting entries include Topham Chase winner Irish Raptor and Scottish National hero Hello Bud, who are both trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, Companero and Donald McCain’s Idle Talk.
