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Walk In The Mill bags another Becher Chase at Aintree

Updated / Saturday, 7 Dec 2019 15:27
Walk In The Mill, who finished fourth behind Tiger Roll in last season's Grand National, will again be aimed at the Aintree showpiece
Walk In The Mill, who finished fourth behind Tiger Roll in last season's Grand National, will again be aimed at the Aintree showpiece

Walk In The Mill shone at Aintree once again as he claimed back-to-back victories in the Randox Health Becher Chase.

Robert Walford's charge had run out a decisive winner on his first attempt over the Grand National fences last year - and returned to Merseyside to finish a creditable fourth in the the world's most famous steeplechase in the spring.

Despite being pulled up on his seasonal reappearance at Wincanton last month, Walk In The Mill was prominent in the market at 8-1 for his Aintree return and clearly relished the challenge of the famous obstacles once again.

For much of the three-and-a-quarter-mile journey it looked like Bryony Frost might claim victory aboard As De Mee, who travelled with plenty of zest and fenced fluently on the front end.

However, Walk In The Mill reeled him in rounding the home turn and galloped all the way to the line to score by two and a half lengths under a jubilant James Best.

With As De Mee weakening late on, the Tom Lacey-trained Kimberlite Candy (11-1) came through to fill the runner-up spot ahead of Alpha Des Obeaux (12-1) in third and Definitly Red (8-1) in fourth.

"I just can't believe it - he's literally the horse of a lifetime for me and Rob," said the winning rider.

"Days like this don't happen to me. I couldn't believe last year - and to do it this year, it means even more.

"He seems to come alive round here."

Bookmakers reacted by cutting Walk In The Mill for next year's Randox Health Grand National - and Walford is unsurprisingly relishing the prospect of a second tilt at the big one.

"He's a great horse, and he just loves it round here and stays all day," said the Dorset-based trainer, whose stable star is the first horse to win successive runnings of the race.

"It's a jumping test, and a stamina test - perfect for him. He's got no gears, and he just keeps going.

"I think probably the four miles (in the Grand National) suits him better than this really - but the problem is it's a slightly better race.

"If he's on a rating where we know he's going to get in, we'll probably keep him over hurdles until then, because he's a novice. If we feel he needs to go up in the weights a bit more, we might need to run him over fences again."

Native River claimed his first victory since his Cheltenham Gold Cup heroics of 2018 with a dominant front-running display in the Virgin Bet Price Boosts Many Clouds Chase.

Just four runners went to post for a Grade Two contest that promised a fascinating rematch between the Colin Tizzard-trained Native River and Nicky Henderson's Might Bite, who fought out an epic finish to the blue riband at Prestbury Park in March, 2018.

Both horses were fitted with differing headgear, with Native River sporting blinkers for the first time and Might Bite with cheekpieces in a bid to rekindle the enthusiasm that was so lacking throughout last season.

The big two went toe to toe from flag-fall, but the contest was effectively over after just four fences, with Might Bite blundering and unseating Nico de Boinville - leaving 5-6 favourite Native River in splendid isolation, with Black Corton and Outlander never in contention.

From that point Native River jumped well in the main, pursued by the riderless Might Bite.

And despite Richard Johnson easing him down to a trot on the run-in, the chestnut gelding still came home with 33 lengths in hand.

The champion jockey said: "The blinkers might have sharpened him up a little bit, but he just definitely felt much more his old self today.

"Last year he only ran three times, really well in three big races. But there was a bit more spark about him today, so it was great.

"Might Bite obviously went early, and it's good to see they were OK.

"Again, he just had a bit more zip about him today. Cheltenham in March is the obvious main target, but I'm sure he'll have a couple more runs between now and then."

Owner Garth Broom was asked about the Grand National, and said: "We're not ruling it out. The race for him now is the Welsh National."

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