The Real Whacker has been a great servant to connections to date © Photo Healy Racing
Charlie Hall Chase hero The Real Whacker will take his place in a field of nine as he bids to follow up his Wetherby success in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday.
Unbeaten in three novice starts over fences two seasons ago, including a Cheltenham Festival victory over Gerri Colombe, Patrick Neville’s stable star was unable to add to his tally in his first year in open company last term, but did run with credit in the King George and the Cotswold Chase.
The eight-year-old unseated Sam Twiston-Davies on his return to action in the Kerry National at Listowel in September, but got his career back on track when making much of the running in the hands of Brian Hughes in the biggest race of the year at Wetherby earlier this month and Neville is hoping for more of the same on Merseyside this weekend from the partnership.
“The plan is to run and we’re going there all guns blazing,” said the Wensleydale-based trainer.
“He’s in great form and came out of the Charlie Hall well, so we said we’d go again.
“Hopefully the ground is OK and won’t go too heavy. I think they’re giving heavy rain there on Saturday, but you never know, the weather forecasters have got it wrong a few times before.
“It’s a good race, but the horse is back to himself and that’s the main thing.”
Ventia Williams’ Royale Pagaille, who won the race last season and was second the year before, is set to line up again and will appreciate the forecast rain over Haydock Park ahead of Saturday.
Paul Nicholls’ Bravemansgame, second in the race last term and also behind The Real Whacker in the Charlie Hall is on the list in first-time blinkers with Sam Twiston-Davies riding, alongside Shark Hanlon’s King George VI hero Hewick.
Lucinda Russell’s Ahoy Senor has been declared and so too has Dan Skelton’s Cheltenham Festival winner Grey Dawning, who makes his seasonal debut in the race.
There is a French runner in Gold Tweet, who will travel over for trainer Gabriel Leenders for the contest, and the Irish challenge includes Gavin Cromwell’s Limerick Lace and Capodanno for Willie Mullins – with the latter added as a supplementary entry.
The going at Haydock was described as good, good to soft in places on Thursday morning, but clerk of the course Dan Cooper is expecting conditions to deteriorate ahead of racing on Saturday.
He said: “We’ve had snow here since Monday after a relatively dry autumn. The only real rain this November came last weekend, so that’s why at the moment the going description is relatively sound as good, good to soft in places.
“The snow came at the start of the week and it’s still here now. We’re hoping that will defrost quite nicely today as temperatures are rising each hour and I’ve got no doubt that thaw will begin to change conditions.
“With rain forecast, I anticipate a going change. The forecast began to take prominence around Monday of a quite certain wet Saturday, wall-to-wall rain from the start of the day right through until the end of the day.
“There’s fluctuating forecasts, but the one I rely on is predicting around 11 millimetres by midday. I think the good thing to say on that is we’ve not raced here this season, so the track will take every millimetre of that no problem.
“It’s not like we’re going to be on opened-up ground and I can’t see it getting to heavy or anything like that, but it will change from where we are now, there’s no doubt about that.”
