Sam Twiston-Davies has made his pick for the Randox Grand National on April 8th, after admitting he had “a few to choose from”.
The Paul Nicholls-retained rider has taken his time over his decision on what to ride in the Aintree event.
He’s plumped for Saphir De Rheu, for Paul Nicholls, who impressed hugely in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham last week.
The grey, who had a moderately successful career hurdling before taking to chasing, is now a general 16/1 shot for hunt racing’s blue riband event.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Twiston-Davies said:
He got into a lovely jumping rhythm in the Gold Cup and looks a well-handicapped horse. He’s got form round the Grade One tracks and he jumped from fence to fence the day he won at Aintree.
Vicente usually finds his form in the spring, and we know he stays four miles from his Scottish National win, but it will be hard to get off Saphir Du Rheu.
Opinion
I think Saphir De Rheu has a great chance in this year’s National. If he stays the trip and mimicks his excellent round of jumping in the Gold Cup, he’ll definitely be a player.
He has the class to win a race of this nature and Paul Nicholls knows what it takes to ready one for the big events.
It’s also a positive to see Sam pick this horse, having a wide range of choices for the race.
