Lion Wins Becher

Vieux Lion Rouge - Winning the Becher Chase
              for the Second Time!

Wow!  What a fantastic performance from Vieux Lion Rouge to win the Becher chase for the second time in his career at Aintree on Saturday under Conor O'Farrell.  He rolled back the years, jumped fantastically and galloped them into submission to win impressively.  He won his first Becher in 2016 and after running consecutively in the race for the last five years, a feat in itself, he finished second in 2018 and got a very deserved victory on Saturday.  11 years young, Aintree seems to bring out the best of him and he loves jumping those bigger fences.  He has now run around the track an incredible 9 times (5 Bechers & 4 Nationals) and completed on every occasion, jumping 223 National fences in the process - the most jumped by any horse ever.

Vieux Lion Rouge has now won 13 races from 36 career starts, an impressive win to run ratio in it's own right having joined the yard as an unraced three year old.  We are especially delighted for his owners Professor Caroline Tisdall and John & Sue Gent as he is a very special horse for us all, a horse of a lifetime.  We would like to thank everyone for the kind message and best wishes over the weekend.  Horses like him are what I think epitomises the nature of National Hunt racing and is why we all love being involved with our sport.  He was extremely bright and feeling very pleased with himself when let out in the paddock yesterday for a roll in the mud and sunshine.  A return trip to Aintree in April could well be on the cards next year, while more in the short term the Veterans chase final at Sandown in also a possibility.

Ramses De Teillee unfortunately did not take to the fences as well as we hoped.  A few little mistakes cost him valuable momentum and he actually did very well to still be in contention turning for home and complete.  Tom Scu looked after him once he lost his chance of winning and we are also pleased to report he has returned home safe and sound which is the main thing.  He is still in the Welsh National after Christmas but we will just have to see how he comes out of this race in the coming days before we decide about this.

It was a very memorable weekend for jockey Conor O'Farrell as after guiding Vieux Lion Rouge to Aintree success on Saturday he went on to have a treble at Kelso yesterday which included winning the Borders National as well so many congratulations to him on a wonderful weekend all-round.

There are no runners from Pond House today but we are back in action tomorrow with runners at Uttoxeter and Fontwell.  Umbrigado tackles fences for the first time at Uttoxeter while we have five runners at Fontwell - Ranco, Sans Logique, Meep Meep Mag, Shoot to Fame and Orchard Thieves.  Check back here in the morning for more news on these but in the meantime enjoy a great Monday!