William Hill Handicap Chase – Aintree – Saturday 5th April

The Plate handicap chase on the Thursday of the Cheltenham Festival was extremely enlightening in relation to the novice handicap chase run over the exact same course and distance on the same day.

The way both races panned out, it was almost as if they were two divisions of the same race, as for those connections who were forward-thinking enough to run their unexposed novices in the Plate, they were rewarded with those horses filling the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th spots.

It is a time of year when novice chasers can still have an element of unexposed nature to them, in comparison to older more grizzled handicappers. To that end, I am glad that Philip Hobbs and Johnson White have avoided the Grade 1 novice chase over 2m4f on Thursday and instead aimed their progressive novice chaser Imperial Saint at the William Hill Handicap Chase at 2.30 at Aintree on Saturday.

At a general 12/1 each-way for 4 places, Imperial Saint is an extremely appealing 2-star ** ante-post betting option for WhichBookie.

Chief among the reasons is Imperial Saint’s exemplary Aintree record over fences with a perfect 3 wins from 3 starts. The first two of which were over 2m and the final one over 2m4f, it is too his credit and definitive of how well handicapped he was, that connections have yet to feel the need to step up to what could be his optimum trip of 3m+.

On penultimate start, Imperial Saint ran very well amidst the likes of Moon D’Orange, Grandeur Dame and Iroko over 2m 4½f on Trials Day at Cheltenham, just being outpaced approaching the last before galloping on up the hill in 3^rd and even gaining again on the front pair.

There are two reasons that Imperial Saint isn’t ante-post favourite for this race – firstly the not insignificant presence of Ultima Chase hero Myretown, but he also holds an entry in the Grade 1 novice chase over 3m on Friday, and connections have never been afraid to tilt at a Grade 1 at this meeting with their nicer horses. Should he not run in the handicap, the handicap would suddenly look a whole lot different.

The other reason is that Imperial Saint was beaten into 4^th in the Pendil Novices’ Chase at Kempton Park, and some lustre off his general record was probably lost for those punters who like the 1’s and 2’s in the formbook.

But that run was all the more creditable for the fact it looked as if he had square wheels going right-handed around a speed favouring track. His sheer ability meant he was still in with a shout going to the second last.

Back at his beloved galloping left-handed Aintree and stepping up in trip to 3m+ for the first time, there really is so much to like about Imperial Saint’s chance, and the 12/1 each-way generally for 4 places is the wrong price.