No reason to be despondent with a 9yo handicap chaser who has only run 17 times, won over half of them and nearly half a million in prize money. How many 9yo handicap chasers have done that? He should come down a few pounds for Saturday but obviously Gold Cups etc should be out.
I would think they will aim at the Welsh National first. I would do that unless the half million bonus is offered again, in which case I would go for the Becher first followed by the Haydock trial and have a fresh horse for the Grand National. If winning the Becher wouldn’t need to bother with the Haydock race unless it was needed.