Gaboriot and White Rhino give the growing training partnership of Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero a strong hand in the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday.
Gaboriot let go of his rider on his first attempt at the Grand National fences in the 2024 Foxhunters’ Chase, but has since shown his fondness for the track by finishing third and second at successive renewals of the Grand Sefton, most recently chasing Colonel Harry in what was his first outing since February.
Guerriero believes the nine-year-old will suit up fitter for that run and also feels the step up from two miles and five furlongs to three and a quarter miles will see him in a better light.
“He seems to be in very good shape and he seems to have improved for the home run, which is nice,” he said.
“It’s obviously a competitive race, but a step up in the trip should help him and he loves the track.”
While Gaboriot is a seasoned campaigner with 26 runs over fences to his name, his stablemate White Rhino has competed over the bigger fences just five times and won twice.
He was hampered by a crash at The Chair during the early stages of the Grand Sefton four weeks ago, but completed the course to finish ninth, and Guerriero will be hoping for a better performance this weekend.
He added: “He lost his confidence early last time and we hope the way Sean (Bowen) rode him has just boosted his confidence – hopefully he enjoyed it because he hasn’t had a tough race.
“He got stymied early on, which didn’t help, and started to blow up his gates a little bit, which you can’t do there. “We’ll try to ride him a little more skillfully this time and hopefully, if he doesn’t spend so much time in the air, he should be able to keep the tails on a little better.
“If he gets back to where he was this time last year, he’ll do really well.”
The weights are led by Sara Bradstock’s Mr Vango, who steps into the Grand National gates for the first time after being off the track since winning the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter in March.
“His preparation is always very difficult at this time of year as he hates all weather conditions and we have only recently had him on the grass but he is in good condition. He has been to Ffos Las to gallop and is hopefully in good form,” said Bradstock.
“He will always improve with a run, but at the same time he has won first time out two out of three years.
‘What could beat him is that it’s only three and a quarter miles on non-heavy ground, but it depends what he really thinks about the fences.
“It’s not too big a field, which is nice. If it was tough terrain and four runners, that would have been perfect!”
Other contenders include Dan Skelton’s Galia Des Liteaux, Gavin Cromwell’s Irish raider Bioluminescence and the Warren Greatrex-trained Bill Baxter, who won the 2023 Topham Chase over national fences and blew away all the cobwebs by finishing second to Haiti Couleurs over hurdles at Newbury last month.
Bioluminescence carries the colors of JP McManus and his racing manager, Frank Berry, said: “She is a big mare and has done very well. She has a lot of weight (11st 9lbs) but Gavin seems to think she is in good shape and if the ground is nice there we hope she can run well.”
“Hopefully the experience round will do her good and if it works we can come back for the National in the spring, that would be wonderful.”
Reflecting on Bill Baxter’s comeback, Greatrex said: “We were just looking for a race before the Becher because he always needs his first run, but this has always been the plan.
“He’s at a nice weight on Saturday (11st 1lb) and he’s already had some previous winning form on the course. I’m just really excited to take him there now – I can’t really wait.”
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