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Grand National the Long Term Target for Rupert
07/11/12
Paul Webber’s Time For Rupert, a disappointing fourth of six behind the impressive Silviniaco Conti at Wetherby earlier in the month in the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase, now has the John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree in April as his main target for the current season, writes Elliot Slater.
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Considered by many to be a possible Cheltenham Gold Cup winner at the start of last season, the 2010 World Hurdle runner-up has come up a few pounds short of the top level over fences and his handler now believes that a more searching stamina test will bring out the best in the eight-year-old gelding who won last season’s Betfair Graduation Chase at Newbury beating the subsequent Gold Cup runner-up The Giant Bolster by a length-and-a-half.
The son of Flemensfirth was also far from disgraced in finishing fifth in the Cheltenham showpiece, one of the premier horse racing events in the calendar, leading at the second from home before staying on at just the one pace in the race eventually won by the ill-fated Synchronised.
Several horse racing news sources reported that Webber’s charge had found the three miles at Wetherby plenty sharp enough and that he may well next contest the longer Hennessy Gold Cup handicap chase at Newbury on December 1 before stepping up even further in trip with a view to tackling Aintree’s awesome obstacles in the spring.
Now rated some 6lbs lower than his peak of 161, Time For Rupert may well appeal to those looking for a likely sort for next month’s Newbury showpiece, while those looking further down the line for a horse who stays well and handles most underfoot conditions except for genuinely heavy ground might consider availing themselves of the current ante-post odds of 50/1 on offer about the winner of 8 of his 20 career starts and over £218,000 in total prize money.
