Gaboriot will attempt to go two places better on Saturday (December 7th) when he makes his second appearance this season over the world-famous Grand National fences at Aintree in the £135,000 BoyleSports Becher Handicap Chase (3m 1f 188y, 2.07pm).
The eight-year-old recorded comfortable hunter chase victories at Carlisle and Cheltenham back in May before returning to handicap company for the BoyleSports Grand Sefton Chase at Aintree on November 9th. In that 2m 5f contest he was a fast-finishing third behind King Turgeon, beaten just over four lengths in total.
Sponsor BoyleSports make King Turgeon the 4-1 favourite for Saturday’s contest, closely followed by Gaboriot on 9-2.
Josh Guerriero, who trains Gaboriot jointly with Oliver Greenall, revealed today that he believes the longer distance of Saturday’s race and the likely softer ground will play to the gelding’s strengths.
Speaking from his Cheshire base, Guerriero said today: “Gaboriot is in very good form and has definitely improved to look at since the Grand Sefton. All of our horses tend to improve for a run so there is no reason why he should be any different. You can see that at home – he looks a lot sharper.
“We were very happy with his run in the Grand Sefton. He looked like he needed further that day and I think softer ground will help him too, which he should get on Saturday.
“It’s not ideal that he is out of the handicap but there are not many opportunities like this so we have to have a go. You would sometimes put a claiming jockey on to try and level it out at the weights but we couldn’t take Henry (Brooke) off of him.”
As to future plans for Gaboriot this season, Guerriero added: “It will be hard to get him in the Grand National as he does need to go up plenty in the weights – if he did get high enough it is definitely something we would look at.
“The long-term plan could possibly be the Freebooter Handicap Chase at the Grand National Meeting in April as I know his owner (Guy Myddelton) would love to have a runner in that. The Cross Country race at the Cheltenham Festival could also be a target.”
Guerriero and Greenall have enjoyed success over the Grand National fences with Gesskille winning the 2023 BoyleSports Grand Sefton Handicap Chase for the training duo. In his days as an amateur jockey Guerriero won the 2008 Foxhunters’ Chase over the Grand National fences on Christy Beamish while Greenall’s father, Lord Daresbury, was Chairman of Aintree for many years.
In conclusion Guerriero said: “Oliver and I both love going to Aintree as we both have a close affinity with the course.
“It is local to us and obviously an amazing place so there are a lot of good things about Aintree and we like to support it and have as many runners, and hopefully as many winners, as we can there.”
BoyleSports Becher Chase, BoyleSports odds
- 4- 1 King Turgeon
- 9-2 Gaboriot,
- 5-1 Chianti Classico
- 8-1 Cruz Control, Iron Bridge
- 12-1 Coko Beach
- 14-1 Arizona Cardinal
- 16-1 Celebre d’Allen, Fantastic Lady, Regal Blue, Richmond Lake
- 20-1 Chambard, Major Dundee, Percussion
- 25-1 Your Own Story, Monte Igueldo
- 40-1 Now Where Or When
Each-Way: 1/4 odds 1, 2, 3, 4
- 2:07pm BoyleSports Becher Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) 3m 1f 188y
- Coko Beach (FR) 9 12 0 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Chianti Classico (IRE) 7 11 12 Sir Francis Brooke & R A Pilkington Kim Bailey Tom Bellamy
- Fantastic Lady (FR) 9 11 4 Mr E. R. Hanbury Nicky Henderson James Bowen
- Celebre d'Allen (FR) 12 11 2 Mr Allan Stennett Philip Hobbs & Johnson White Micheal Nolan
- Chambard (FR) 12 11 0 David & Carol Shaw Venetia Williams
- Richmond Lake (IRE) 8 10 11 Hemmings Racing Donald McCain
- Arizona Cardinal 8 10 11 Oakman Racing Club Stuart Edmunds Charlie Hammond
- Cruz Control (FR) 7 10 9 Mr F Green and Mr J Chinn Tom Lacey Stan Sheppard
- Iron Bridge (IRE) 8 10 5 Hemmings Racing Jonjo & A.J. O'Neill
- King Turgeon (FR) 6 10 2 Somerset Racing David Pipe Jack Tudor
- Monte Igueldo (FR) 7 10 1 S Beetham and DPL Fab Ltd Gary Hanmer
- Regal Blue (IRE) 7 10 0 Martin Tedham & Wasdell Properties Ltd. Jonjo & A.J. O'Neill
- Major Dundee (IRE) 9 9 13 Hemmings Racing Alan King Sam Twiston-Davies
- Now Where Or When (IRE) 9 9 12 Mrs Margaret McCrudden S. R. B. Crawford Northern Ireland
- Gaboriot (FR) 8 9 11 Mr G. C. Myddelton Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero Henry Brooke
- Your Own Story (IRE) 8 9 11 Mrs J Kehoe, Wymer & Russell Lucinda Russell
- Percussion 9 9 8 Mr E. R. Hanbury L J Morgan
17 confirmations
2 Irish-trained
