Rendlesham run to top National prep for Beauport

Beauport will complete his Randox Grand National preparations in the WKD Rendlesham Hurdle at Haydock on Saturday.

Winner of the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter last spring, the nine-year-old, who sports the same colours of National-winning Corbiere, firmly entered the Aintree picture with a demolition of his rivals in the Berkshire National at Ascot earlier in the season.

In a bid not to climb any higher in the handicap before the weights for the Merseyside showpiece – for which he is as short as 20-1 – were announced earlier this week, handler Nigel Twiston-Davies reverted to hurdles with Beauport and almost landed a telling blow back at Ascot when a game third in the Grade One Long Walk Hurdle just before Christmas.

That performance was enough to warrant another crack at a valuable prize over timber before tackling the famous National fences in April, with the gelding now heading to Lancashire with leading claims in this Grade Two event.

“We went to Ascot for the Long Walk and didn’t know what to expect really,” said Twiston-Davies.

“Having won so well the time before over fences he went up an awful lot in the weights, so it was just a case of looking for somewhere to run him without going up in the weights ahead of the National, which is his main aim.

“He ended up still in front jumping the last and he only got beaten a bit more than a length.

“So, we thought we’d have another go in a race like this and it looks like he should take the beating if he runs like he did at Ascot.”

Chief among the opposition to Beauport is Kerry Lee’s in-form Nemean Lion, who has won two of his three outings this term, including when downing Salver to land a valuable event at Windsor last month.

The eight-year-old holds an entry for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and will now try three miles for the first time in his career as his trainer tests the waters ahead of making future plans.

“We’re looking forward to it and he wasn’t stopping at the line at Windsor, so I think we’re justified trying three miles with him,” said Lee.

“Given his Flat form and the distances he was running over, it has always been in the back of our minds he could get any trip. As a novice he was so good at two miles it made sense to stick to it, but as he has progressed we’re just exploring options.

“It could mean an exciting spring, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens on Saturday and then we can make some plans once we know what we’ve got.”

The defending champion is Gary and Josh Moore’s Botox Has, who arrives on the back of a respectable third in the Cleeve Hurdle on Cheltenham Trials day.

He excelled in deep ground when a nine-length scorer in this 12 months ago but has contrasting conditions to contend with this time.

“It’s a shame about the drying ground as he enjoys having slower ground to slow the others down,” said Moore senior.

“He’ll go there to do his best and he ran well in the Cleeve at Cheltenham. We’re slowly coming to the end of the season and he’s had plenty of racing, but it’s not easy with the mark he has got these days.

“He has to run in these races and there is no point going to Cheltenham with him, so this was the obvious race for him.”

While Moore may feel Botox Has has plenty on his plate in the Rendlesham, he is optimistic Give It To Me Oj can extend his yard’s winning streak in the Victor Ludorum Juvenile Hurdle on the card.

The Lower Beeding operation has saddled Porticello, Bo Zenith and Sadler to win the contest in the past three years and while Give It To Me Oj is once-raced and yet to prove he is of the same calibre, Moore is confident he is a smart individual.

“He’s a nice horse and he schools well and I wouldn’t say he’s a certainty, but he will go there with a very good chance,” said Moore.

“He wouldn’t quite be up to the standard of Salver and Bo Zenith who we’ve won it with recently, but he’s not a bad horse and he’s fully entitled to be in a race like this despite being the least experienced horse in the race. I’ve been really happy with him.”

Others in the juvenile event include Jamie Snowden’s Chepstow Finale Juvenile Hurdle runner-up Marche d’Aligre and Lavender Hill Mob, whose trainer James Owen is eyeing a spot at the Cheltenham Festival after seeing his well-regarded youngster win at Warwick last time.

“It’s a race with good prize-money and I think he might need to go up a pound or two to get into the Boodles,” said Owen.

“He’s a horse we still think an awful lot of, he’s just taken his time to get to grips with hurdles.

“Haydock is a nice, flat track which should suit him and he jumped much more fluently at Warwick last time. We think he has improved again at home and hopefully he can run well as a stepping stone to Cheltenham.”