Many Clouds Chase: Noble Yeats returns to Aintree

He said: “We have been really pleased with him since he last ran and are just in search of his ground really, but we need to run him again. My worry is, although he has an entry in the Long Walk, the forecast isn’t great going forward.

“He seems to like Aintree and, at the moment, if the ground stays similar to how it is, that will pretty much be the plan.

“The owners and us are keen to see him run over a bit more of a trip, because the three-mile hurdling division does not look as strong as some of the others.”

Though he will line up for the Grade Two chase, the Brompton Regis handler hopes he can still develop into a crack staying hurdler, even with a mid-term target of the Grade One Ascot Chase in February on the radar, a race he won in 2021.

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒄

A brave performance from both horse and jockey as Dashel Drasher wins the Bet 365 Handicap @Ascot #ITVRacing pic.twitter.com/OgVTQruuac

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) January 23, 2021

“Three miles over hurdles, if all went well, opens up all sorts of opportunities for us, given that we are reasonably ground dependent, and it might just make him easier to place going forward,” added Scott.

“The Grade One Ascot Chase is very much in our thinking, but we’ll need God to water the course.

“It is so frustrating. Newbury would have been perfect really. We could have run there and then make a call on what we would do for the rest of the season.

“He would have had no penalties there, whereas you go to the Long Walk and everybody is off level weights. It is not ideal, but it is what it is and we’ll have to make the best of it.

“I walked Newbury pretty carefully and if we’d have had an inch of rain on it, I don’t think it would have softened that much, because you go down two inches and it is still a sponge. It is soaking it all up.

“It will take a huge amount of water to make it what I’d consider to be proper winter ground – and it will come, eventually.”

A total of 23 have been declared for the Becher Handicap Chase including last year’s first and second, Snow Leopardess and Hill Sixteen.

They are both 16/1 in the betting but Gesskille is the 9/2 favourite just ahead of Ashtown Lad (5/1) after finishing second in the Grand Sefton Chase last month.

Coral’s David Stevens said: “Having proved his liking for the famous National fences last month, and with this test of stamina expected to suit, Gesskille now heads the betting to go one place better in Saturday’s Becher Chase.”

Many Clouds Chase odds

6/5 Ahoy Senor

9/2 Sounds Russian

5/1 Chantry House, Noble Yeats

9/1 Sam Brown

12/1 Dashel Drasher

Becher Chase odds

9/2 Gesskille

5/1 Ashtown Lad

8/1 Captain Kangaroo

12/1 Snow Leopardess, Hill Sixteen

14/1 De Rasher Counter, Five Star Getaway, The Wolf

16/1 Dr Kananga, Fantastikas, Recite A Prayer

18/1 Enqarde

20/1 Cloth Cap, Fortescue, Percussion

22/1 Didero Vallis

28/1 The Jam Man

33/1 Fagan, Francky Du Berlais, Now Where Or When

40/1 Domaine De L’Isle

50/1 Minella Bobo, Rapid Flight

View the latest horse racing odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication