L’Homme Presse emerged from its comeback in Cheltenham last week in perfect health.
After his first run for 300 days, the Venetia Williams-trained 10-year-old gave some weight to a number of younger rivals throughout, but remained content to finish a second by five lengths to Irish raider Blaze The Way.
Co-owner Andy Edwards said: “He rode a fantastic race and we were very pleased. It was a tough race, he had to give up a lot of weight and the ground was fast enough.”
“He stayed on the mound as always, so we can be very pleased.
“I told Venetia yesterday that if someone had told me on Friday morning that he would finish a brave second, I would have been very happy with that.
“Halfway through the race everyone around me was wondering what had gone wrong as it looked like he was being pulled up, but Charlie (Deutsch, jockey) explained that he had just pulled him out to get a better view of his fences. It was emotional at the time though, as it always seems to be with him.
“It was always a good option for us to keep him left-handed at his favorite track, rather than putting him straight into the deep end at King George.”
L’Homme Presse is now fairly prominent in the betting for the Grand National, a race he was forced to miss last season, but Edwards said no decision has been made yet on whether that will be his target in the spring.
“Everyone is talking about Aintree but I have no idea if that’s the plan. I spoke to Venetia yesterday and she said just one race at a time,” Edwards said.
“Venetia may have a plan, but it has not been discussed. The most important thing is that he came out of the race well. I was in the field with him on Saturday morning and yesterday he was really good.
“It will have put him in a good place for wherever he goes. He will be in the Cotwold Chase (Cheltenham, which he won last season), but there are other races and there are other handicaps.”
“What Venetia has said is that he will certainly not participate in the King George.”
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