Connections are hoping that Highland Lodge will get a crack at the Grand National and say he might not race before Aintree.
The nine-year-old looked in impressive form when landing Saturday’s Becher Chase over the Aintree fences and the Merseyside showpiece is now definitively on the agenda.
It was the son of Flemensfirth’s first outing for James Moffatt after he had won four times for Emma Lavelle, and the Cumbria handler was delighted with what he saw at the weekend.
“He’s come out of the race absolutely grand. He’s eaten up and I think he’s grown a hand since the race,” he said.
“He’s just a very happy horse at the moment. He’s been getting a lot of love and attention since Saturday, as you can imagine, and that really does make a difference.”
And now it might be case of just heading straight to Liverpool, with Moffatt hopeful that the handicapper might be kind.
“Everyone is asking about the National now and I think that’s the way we’ve got to look,” he added.
“He might need another pound or two to definitely get in the race, but the race is framed on its own and you’d like to think the handicapper will favour him a little bit because he’s already proven himself there.”
