Ian Ogg highlights two horses on his short-list for the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday.
The Becher Chase, currently sponsored by William Hill, has had its share of emotional moments and produced three dual winners in the last 14 years.
Walk In The Mill, conventionally, won back-to-back renewals for James Best and Robert Walford in 2018 and 2019 but Hello Bud landed the prize in 2010 and 2012, remarkably as a 14-year-old on the second occasion prompting his jockey, Sam Twiston-Davies, to remark: "I cannot tell you how much this horse means to me - he means more than anything else - he is unbelievable.
"I love this horse more than anything else in the world - almost on a par with my mum and dad. Hello Bud is the best thing that has ever happened to our family."
Another teenager could line-up in this year's renewal and John Ingles paid tribute to the remarkable Roi Mage earlier this week.
Vieux Lion Rouge had to wait even longer for his second Becher Chase than Hello Bud, winning the race for the first time in 2011 and again in 2016 on his fifth consecutive appearance; not surprisingly he was a favourite of his connections and many racegoers. As much as Vieux Lion Rouge meant to them, it's hard to match the scenes following Snow Leopardess' win in 2021.
A winner in France, Ireland and England, Snow Leopardess was a home-bred owned by Marietta Fox-Pitt, whose daughter-in-law Alice Plunkett said of her: “She’s a quite extraordinary equestrian character.
"She’s been at the forefront of the equestrian world for 60 years. She represented Great Britain at the European Championships, she’s been second at Burghley, she won the Melton Hunt race twice – once after she’d had her children funnily enough.
“Because she lived in Kent, she owned horses which raced in France as a young woman and won a couple of big races there and she has always bred horses, eventers, racehorses – she lives and breathes horses. She does everything herself and is the last of the old school.
“She’s best friends with Jessie Harrington and is an extraordinary horsewoman, so to now have a horse like Snow Leopardess, that she foaled and produced herself, is pretty amazing.
“It’s the culmination of a lifetime of breeding and while it sounds ridiculous, this mare is the horse incarnation of her – they are both tough as old boots and unbelievably beautiful. When Marietta was younger she was drop-dead gorgeous, but when everyone else was reading Vogue she was reading Farmers Weekly!”
There could be similar scenes if Mr Vango, the last winner trained by Sara Bradstock's late husband Mark, defies top-weight on Saturday and he has to be high on the short-list with the ground slowly coming into his favour but it would be a rare weight carrying performance and only Blaklion, who won off 153, has scored from a similar rating in recent seasons.
Mr Vango will be having his first start since beating Tanganyika in the Midlands National but the runner-up, who is 3 lb better off, has got a pipe-opener under his belt for last year's winning trainer Venetia Williams whose string appears to be on the verge of getting into top gear and makes more appeal given he's twice the price.
The O'Neill stable is just getting going after a quiet spell which is a concern for Monbeg Genius and Iron Bridge while Galia Des Liteaux (behind Iron Bridge last time) has a little to prove after a season that failed to live up to expectations and the layers are giving nothing away, perhaps not surprisingly given she's trained by Dan Skelton.
Warren Greatrex confirmed earlier this week that the Becher Chase has 'always been the plan' for Bill Baxter and it's straightforward enough to make a case for the Topham winner but perhaps the 2024 renewal of the Grand Sefton holds the key.
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King Turgeon came home in front of Vintage Fizz and Gaboriot and the first and third are both among this weekend's possibles.
Stepped back up to three miles two, King Turgeon won his next start at Cheltenham off an 8 lb higher mark of 133, going up another 6 lb, but found life tougher thereafter. He was a solid third in the Somerset National but pulled up in the Edinburgh version and suffered the same fate in the Ultima.
King Turgeon had a wind-operation prior to his seasonal debut in the Grand Sefton and showed up well for a long way, jumping the fences with aplomb and racing prominently until weakening on the run-in to be beaten a little over eight lengths into sixth, one place in front of beaten favourite Jet Plane.
That was a promising return from the seven-year-old who has garnered plenty of experience but whose connections are hopeful is still improving given his age. The handicapper has given King Turgeon a chance, dropping him by 2 lb to 135 and leaving him attractively treated for a race that, given his profile, must have always been on the radar.
Gaboriot fared better in this year's renewal of the Grand Sefton, beating all bar Colonel Harry, but the handicapper didn't overreact. Gaboriot was favourite for last year's Becher Chase before it was abandoned and has live claims of gaining compensation.
Form over the Grand National fences may not be deemed to be as important as in days of yore but, like King Turgeon, Gaboriot has taken to these fences like the proverbial duck. Stepping back up in trip is in his favour and his chance is clear although it will be interesting to see what headgear he's declared in as he had blinkers on for the first time in over two years the last day having sported cheekpieces for three of his four starts last season.
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