Ben Pauling’s 10-year-old grabbed victory in the feature over the Grand National fences on Merseyside while Lord also scored at Aintree
Ben Pauling’s 10-year-old grabbed victory in the feature over the Grand National fences on Merseyside while Lord also scored at Aintree
Twig (18-1) landed a gutsy and narrow victory over Mr Vango (9-2 favourite) in the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Handicap Chase at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday afternoon. And now the Ben Pauling-trained 10-year-old may have another crack at the Randox Grand National at Aintree on April 11 in the new year – and a possible bid to land the sponsors William Hill’s £500,000 bonus.
Twig was 10th behind Nick Rockett in the world’s greatest steeplechase in April, but he triumphed over the big Aintree obstacles in the 3m2f feature back on Merseyside. He had also been runner-up to Chianti Clasico in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2023 but was securing a third success over fences under conditional jockey Beau Morgan for his mother and Twig’s owner Georgia.
Mahon’s Glory went to the front almost from the off with Mr Vango in second and Twig always going well in third. The Dylan Cunha-trained Mahon’s Glory opened up a sizeable advantage and looked to be getting away from them. But as he tired late on, Twig came through past Mr Vango and took over after the final fence. But Sara Bradstock’s top weight Mr Vango – who had won the London National, Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock Park and the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter last season – would not lie down. He rallied to come and rejoin Twig after the Elbow. And following an epic battle between the duo a photo finish was called to separate them. Twig just came out on top by a short head but also had to wait to confirm the victory following a stewards’ inquiry.
Last year’s Welsh Grand National winner Val Dancer (12-1) was a further three-and-three-quarters-of-a-length back in third with Galia Des Liteaux (9-1) fourth and the front-running Mahons Glory plugging on in fifth.
Pauling, who was landing a double on the day after Taurus Bay’s victory in the opener, was relived and delighted for his ‘hero’ Twig. He said: “He has been an absolute hero of a horse for Beau, and the Morgans as well. He has run a blinder, and Beau has given him a lovely ride. He has jumped for fun and got lonely in front.
“He was a horse that literally couldn’t get out of his own way for some lovely owners of mine called the Strangmans. He ran in two races and just got lapped. We said we haven’t got that much time, or money to throw at it, and I said Beau Morgan is about to start point-to-pointing, so I said what about him as a pointer, so they sold him for one hundred pounds. They wanted the Morgan family to be responsible for the horse going forward.
“It is a huge relief and I’m just thrilled for Beau and the horse. It was a very close run and Sara’s horse has run phenomenally well, but we are relieved.”
With William Hill putting up a £500,000 bonus for any horse who wins the Becher Chase – or the William Hill Classic Chase at Warwick in January and the William Hill Grand National Trial at Haydock in February – and go on and land the big one, it means one horse could potentially land £1million in prizemoney in April. Victory in those three contests means the winner will automatically be guaranteed their place in the Aintree marathon. But after Twig’s first crack at the Grand National, Pauling is still unsure if he will take up that place back at Aintree this time.
Pauling added: “He didn’t get involved in the National before as he just plugged on and ran well. You can’t run like that in a Grand National these days. We will see. He would go up enough to get in, but I was thinking about the Veterans’ Final at Sandown Park, but we will see.”
Winning jockey Morgan thanked former Grand National-winning jockey Barry Geraghty after surviving stewards’ inquiry following the biggest win of his career. He said: “That was a nerve-racking twenty minutes. My head was down, and I didn’t have a clue. I just sat there with my fingers crossed hoping for the best. Normally those photo finishes don’t come in for me but thank God the one time it mattered, it did.
“Every time this horse wins there is always a stewards’ inquiry. He is one of those horses that if you hit the front too soon, he will slam on the brakes. We chased down the horse that had a nice lead and we probably got there a bit too soon, but it worked out well for us.
“We were always waiting for that horse to come upsides us and give us a bit of challenge up the run-in. Thank God he dug deep today, and I owe everything to him. The tempo of the race didn’t really help my lad and the ground was probably not ideal for him. He didn’t travel as good as he normally does, but it worked out brilliantly.
“Luckily, I had some help before going into the stewards’ inquiry as Barry Geraghty gave me some help. I was pretty confident with what I said and I was happy enough leaving there and I was just delighted the result was okay.”
Morgan’s dad Arron was also delighted with the success. He added: “The last three wins he has had a stewards’ inquiry, but this was the hardest one. It is amazing and I’m so proud of the boys. Luca has been helping to train him and Beau rides it, what more could you want.
“The poor wife (Georgia, the owner of Twig) is sat at home with a broken leg and she is absolutely devastated she can’t be here. She is at home, but she is loving it and she is ecstatic the same as all of us. I turned away thinking is this true, and I couldn’t believe it. To see Beau come across the line was emotional. It is a brilliant day and a dream come true.”
Trainer Bradstock was proud of her runner-up Mr Vango and is looking forward to more big days for her giant chaser. She said: “I couldn’t be more delighted with him. It was very close, but the horse is a stayer and that is too short for him on ground that is riding too nice.
“He loved the fences. He is quite bright as he worked out quite quickly that he didn’t have to jump them too big. The same owner had Step Back, but he was like twinkle toes as he didn’t want to touch a twig.
“He is amazing. We got him for thirty thousand pounds as he had a great reputation of being a big old slow old horse, but he is a big slow old horse with an engine and an attitude. Give us another furlong and we win it. He is a real old hero.
“We wouldn’t come back here on anything that isn’t softer than good to soft as otherwise they go too fast for him. This ground over four and a bit miles you think he would have a shout and if you got Red Marauder ground then no one would get near him. He is such a big horse you can’t make definite plans as sometimes it takes him a long time to get over a race and sometimes it doesn’t.
“The Welsh Grand National is in my mind, the Classic Chase probably won’t go heavy enough. He loves the ground at Haydock Park so the Grand National Trial is a possibility. He has got some big races in him as he is a proper old hero.”
Lord (6-1), trained by Merseyside-born Cheshire handler Donald McCain Jnr, could be aimed at the Cheltenham Festival in March following his superb front-running victory in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Wirral Juvenile Hurdle.
Purchased out of the Olly Murphy’s yard for £70,000 after winning three times in August and September, the gelded son of Best Solution grabbed a fine victory in the Listed contest, scoring by five lengths under Brian Hughes from 2-1 favourite Bibe Mus.
David Shaw, who owns Lord with his wife Carol, said: “He had shown his hand a little bit, but we were looking further into the future really more for what he could do as a handicap hurdler. We knew he would be hard to place so we were forced a little bit to go to Cheltenham and here, but it has worked in our favour. He has won despite the ground. On slightly better ground I think he could be quite useful.
“In the earlier races the leaders had got clear so it looked like the right tactic as we were going to run him in second or third, but Brian said if there is no pace I will make it and make it a proper pace, which he did.
“His last three jumps Brian said were his worst, having previously jumped so well. There is still a bit of work to improve, but it is very exciting. We might end up going to Cheltenham for the Fred Winter, or something like that, but he has sort of done his job for the season as he has won a big race. Everything else will be a bonus and we will look after him. I’m absolutely thrilled.”
Grand National-winning trainer McCain added: “He is a very professional little racehorse as he is honest and tough, and he is turning up in nice races. We can relax a little bit now as that was lovely.
“I thought the ground would be a little bit soft for him today, and it probably was still. David persuaded me to come last night, but I wasn’t sure. I was driving back through Lancaster from Sedgefield, and the roads were flooded, but we have got away with it.
“He got stuck in the worst of the ground at Cheltenham after the second last coming out of the dip and the race was gone. If you watch him he was pricking his ears up all the way up the straight, but the race had got away from him. He is good, honest, tough and professional and he will win more races.”