We've teamed up with Weatherbys to provide the key racing trends ahead of Saturday's Becher Chase at Aintree.
Sky Bet Price Boost
TRENDS
- 8/10 WINNERS – Ran over Grand National fences
- 7/10 WINNERS – Won or placed over 3m1f+
- 9/10 WINNERS – Minimum of 13 chase starts
- 9/10 WINNERS – Aged 8 or older
BETTRENDS SELECTION: VIEUX LION ROUGE
Previous course form is a huge plus when looking at the Becher Chase and 2016 winner VIEUX LION ROUGE – who also finished runner-up in the race last year – certainly boasts plenty of experience over the famous fences, with his form figures at the track reading 716720. David Pipe’s 10-year-old has completed on all six starts around the course and showed he is no back number when making a winning reappearance at Chepstow in October.
He is now rated 1lb lower than when second last year, ensuring he carries 10-12 and eight of the past 10 winners carried 10-12 or less. A three-time ‘bumper’ winner earlier in his career, nine of the last 10 winners either won in that sphere or in a Point-to-Point, highlighting the need for a traditional National Hunt background.
The other pair to score well on this week’s trends were Vintage Clouds and As De Mee, although the former got no further than the first on his sole attempt at the course. With the Sue Smith team now firing, he could leave his seasonal reappearance behind, however, and this stamina-laden grey has always appealed as the type to go well over this unique course.