Blak to basics

BLAKLION will not run until the new year, Sam Twiston-Davies revealed yesterday.

But he will remain firmly on the Grand National trail for the third year running.

The nine-year-old was fourth in the 2017 Aintree spectacular before being brought down at the first fence last year.

Twiston-Davies said: “Blaklion won’t be out until after Christmas. He had a minor setback – just a very small thing.

“There are not many early-season targets for him anyway. The National is the plan again, all being well.”

The jockey is also looking forward to riding Ballyoptic over the big Aintree fences. The horse will also be aimed at the National and will look to book his ticket in the Becher Chase at Aintree next month.

The eight-year-old was a high-class hurdler and rounded off a promising first chasing campaign by finishing a nose second to Joe Farrell in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr in April.

Twiston-Davies is looking forward to seeing Ballyoptic tackle the National fences at Aintree on December 8.

He said: “It was a massive run from him up at Ayr and the plan is to go get some experience over the National fences

“He has got to brush up on his jumping, but there is no reason why he can’t be a National horse.”