SOLID SILVER A GEM
Lavelle’s gritty stayer to strike gold in the Midlands National and become new stable star
MY SILVER LINING is fancied to end an emotional week for trainer Emma Lavelle on a high by lifting the bet365 Midlands Grand National (3.00) at Uttoxeter this afternoon.
On Thursday, Lavelle (right) announced the retirement of stable stalwart Paisley Park on the back of his 10th place in the Stayers’ Hurdle, five years after his victory in the Cheltenham Festival test.
The Wiltshire handler has another as-yet less celebrated – but still richly talented – grinder on her hands in the form of My Silver Lining, who has thrived since being campaigned over a distance of ground.
Having ended last season with a win over an extended three miles and a furlong at Cheltenham last April, the eightyear-old daughter of Cloudings made a successful return over a similar trip at Wincanton in October.
Seconds at Exeter and Sandown followed, but My Silver Lining was back in business over three miles and five furlongs in the Classic Chase at Warwick, beating Galia Des Liteaux by three-quarters of a length.
And this hard-as-nails grey then came a close second to Yeah Man in Haydock’s Grand National Trial Handicap Chase last month.
My Silver Lining steps up to four and a quarter miles on heavy ground today but James Best’s mount has an insatiable appetite where stamina is concerned and can overcome a 4lb rise in the weights. Some going-places performers assemble for the bet365 Novices’ Handicap Chase (3.35), but none more so than VAL DANCER. Mel Rowley’s sevenyear-old has won three of his four races since being switched to the larger obstacles. The victories have come in cheekpieces at Leicester, Wetherby and Catterick on his last three starts, and there is more to come from a horse for whom hock-deep mud is a definite plus.
The playing surface in the Potteries will also be to the liking of WHITE RHINO in the bet365 Handicap Hurdle (2.25).
On the back of a fifth score over timber on heavy ground at Cheltenham 10 days before Christmas, Doyen’s son, trained in tandem by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, wasn’t discredited with a third on quicker terrain at Huntingdon in January and should go well from the same mark.
The Never Ordinary At bet365 Handicap Hurdle (1.50) is a good opportunity for Stuart Edmunds’ hat-trick seeker ONE EYE ON VEGAS to make the most of his low weight.