Becher Chase – Aintree – Saturday 3rd December

Unibet Greatwood Hurdle Preview & Tips – Will Smith

Wednesday’s Bangor-On-Dee card was full of intrigue, due to it being the starting point of the season for many high-class staying handicap chasers, either in the valuable 3m handicap chase itself, the earlier 2m4½f handicap chase, or in the closing novice hurdle on the card.

There will be clues aplenty to be picked through, with price fluctuations already evident for big races such as the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in the last week of November, and also the Boylesports Best Odds Guaranteed On Racing Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday 3rd December.

It is this last named big race, the second of the season over the National fences, that was catapulted straight to the front of my mind when I saw Five Star Getaway’s run in the 2m4½f handicap chase that opened Bangor’s card.

Christian Williams has built his reputation over the last couple of seasons on targeting big Saturday and Festival races with his best horses, in an effort to thrust his upwardly mobile yard into the limelight.

Five Star Getaway was a massive improver in the spring of 2021 for the yard, admittedly from a lowly original mark. He then won a valuable race at Kempton’s Christmas meeting last season on his second start back from his summer break, before going on to contest the Topham Chase over the National fences in the spring. Jumping well in the main, Five Star Getaway found the intermediate trip on decent ground just too much of a speed test for him.

That he took to the fences well won’t have been lost on his local owners, and I have no doubt that a tilt at the Becher Chase (and maybe with a rating rise, the Grand National itself) is firmly on their minds, and after he caught the eye running on into 4^th at Bangor on his seasonal reappearance, he will surely be aimed firmly at Aintree’s December meeting feature.

At 18/1 each-way with Boylesports, Five Star Getaway looks to represent significant ante-post value for the Becher Chase, and especially given he has now confirmed himself as versatile with regard to ground conditions, as he handled the Bangor mud surprisingly well.

The other one to back now for the Becher Chase is Grand Sefton runner-up Gesskille, who is available at 16/1 each-way with Bet365. I recognise that price won’t be readily available to everyone, but with 12/1 in places elsewhere, he would still be a recommendation at those odds too.

Gesskille had the look of a horse, going into the Grand Sefton, that the handicapper had found tricky to assess, given he had a rating in the mid 140’s in France, and the UK assessor left him on his original mark of 133, even after winning a Listed chase in France.

He was mightily unlucky not to win last Saturday’s Grand Sefton, as Henry Brooke’s saddle slipped partially a long way from home, and ultimately, he wasn’t able to assist his mount from the saddle as much as he would have liked.

That Gesskille very nearly reeled in the well-handicapped, rejuvenated and ‘always-good-fresh’ Al Dancer suggested he was very much a horse with a big race in him. Since then, the Becher Chase has been confirmed as the next outing, and it’s very hard not to see him going very close in that, granted the extra distance will help.