*Odds quoted on the widget are Future Racing / Antepost prices which means that if your selection does not run in the race for whatever reason – you will lose your stake under traditional Antepost rules
Grand Sefton Chase champ Mac Tottie could be on for a quick-fire double over the Grand National fences after the weights were revealed for the Becher Chase 2021.
Mac Tottie – tipped up by Paddy’s top trader Frank Hickey at 20/1 to win the first race of the season over Aintree’s iconic spruce earlier this month – will shoulder at least 10st 6lb if he takes his place in the Grade 3 handicap on Saturday, December 4.
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The unprecedented double is on after the Grand Sefton Chase was moved forward in the calendar from its usual December slot to November.
April’s Grand National is the long-term target for Mac Tottie, however, and trainer Peter Bowen said: “You’d have to think that way. Obviously he’s got to go up a fair bit in the handicap but you don’t want to go up so much that he won’t be competitive.
“He’ll stay the trip, the way he stayed was his forte on Saturday. His dam stayed well and he’s by Midnight Legend so he’s bred to stay.”
Henry de Bromhead saddled Minella Times to victory in this year’s Grand National and his charge, Chris’s Dream, has been handed top weight for the Becher Chase 2021. The Irish raider gives 6lbs to his nearest rival in the handicap, Elegant Escape, who has not been seen on track since March 2020.
Vieux Lion Rouge, the winner of last year’s renewal, has been allotted 10st 9lb. David Pipe’s veteran jumper did fall in the most recent Grand National, however, and could only finish seventh on his seasonal bow in a Veterans’ Handicap Chase at Chepstow last month.
Kimberlite Candy has form over the fences having finished second in the last two renewals and is given 11st to carry, the same as Scottish Grand National winner Mighty Thunder.
A total of 43 horses hold entries to next month’s Becher Chase but a maximum field of 30 is permitted to run. Checkitout – second in last month’s London Gold Cup at Ascot – currently sneaks in at the bottom of the weights with 9st 11lb.
It’s also worth noting that victory in the Becher Chase is far from a guarantee that they’ll follow up in the Grand National four months later as no horse has ever achieved the double in the same season, although Earth Summit landed the feat in the same calendar year in 1998.
Becher Chase 2021 Antepost Odds
8/1 – Mac Tottie, Mighty Thunder
10/1 – Escaria Ten, Highland Hunter, Kimberlite Candy, Snow Leopardess
14/1 – Cap Du Nord, Checkitout, Chris’s Dream, Elegant Escape, Le Breuil
16/1 – Blaklion, Dingo Dollar
20/1 – Destinee Royale, Discordantly, Eurobot, Late Romantic, Lord Du Mesnil, Hogans Height, Potterman, Ravenhill, Rocco, Step Back, Top Ville Ben, Tout Est Permis, Via Dolorosa, Vieux Lion Rouge
25/1 – BAR
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
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