Cranbourne trainer Chris Hyland believes his horse Toulouse Lautrec, pictured in his last-start victory at Sandown last month, is the one to beat in this weekend’s Grand National Steeplechase.By Stuart Teather
CRANBOURNE-trained Toulouse Lautrec is in prime form and the horse to beat in this weekend’s Grand National Steeplechase, according to his trainer Chris Hyland.
He said his horse has had a perfect preparation coming into the big race and added that not contesting last weekend’s Crisp Steeplechase would work to their advantage.
“If he doesn’t win, I’ll have no excuses – everything has gone perfectly,” he said.
“He didn’t race on the hard surface – I think history shows that it’s better not to run it.
“Obviously the horse that won on Saturday, Geeorb, was pretty impressive.”
Geeorb ran a blistering race and finished nine lengths ahead of second-placed Jamraan, on a track that produced a number of complaints from participating trainers.
However this week Geeorb faces a massive task to break the curse of the Crisp with no winner of the race ever backing up to claim the Grand National since the race was first run in 1979.
Toulouse Lautrec is unbeaten in four starts over fences, including two big wins by over 15 lengths in May.
In his last start at Flemington, Toulouse Lautrec won by two lengths over Jamraan and David Hayes-trained Anyone We Know in third.
Hyland said he would take Toulouse Lautrec for a gallop early in the week, then jump nine hurdles later in preparation.
When asked about the drama of the Grand National Hurdles on Saturday, where two horses were put down, Hyland was hesitant to weigh into the debate about the future of hurdling.
“It doesn’t look good, but I guess that’s why they’re reviewing it. I hope they can find a solution that suits everyone," he said.
“Obviously you want it to be as safe as possible. On the whole since the new jumps have come in, the death rates and the fall rates have come down dramatically.”
