Off The Jury in the running for Aintree return next month
Mickey Bowen could have a National contender on his hands.
Off The Jury could return to Aintree for an early sighter of the Grand National fences next month, with Mickey Bowen plotting a route to Merseyside in the spring.
The Pembrokeshire handler considers both the shorter Topham Chase and the world’s famous steeplechase itself as potential targets for the seven-year-old after he made all over the Mildmay course last week to stretch his unbeaten record over fences to three.
He has been entered for both the William Hill Grand Sefton Handicap Chase and the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Handicap Chase on December 5, with Sandown’s Betfair Esher Novices’ Chase – a race nominated by Paul Nicholls for No Drama This End – also a possibility a day earlier.
Bowen said: “He’s come out of Aintree great, he’s 100 per cent. I’ve entered him in the Becher, the Sefton and there’s a Grade Two at Sandown the same weekend he could go for. We’ll give him a few options and go from there.
“The National fences in the spring is definitely the plan, so if we give him a spin around them and see how he gets on next month that could be good.
“I think he will stay, so it would be nice if he could go up a few more pounds and got into the National. I think there will be more to come from him the way he jumps, and he stays all day.
“He jumps so well and it’s fingers crossed he carries on going the right way for the rest of the season.”
Off The Jury is among 39 entries for the Becher Chase, with another Aintree winner from last week in Tom Lacey’s Montregard the ante-post favourite.
Other contenders include the Philip Hobbs and Johnson White-trained three-time Aintree winner Imperial Saint, Jonjo and AJ O’Neill’s Grand National fourth Johnnywho and Isaac Des Obeaux from Paul Nicholls’ yard.
Thirty-seven entries were received for the Grand Sefton, with Off The Jury and Johnnywho joined by Dan Skelton’s Madara and David Pipe’s King Turgeon among others.