HAYDOCK

AT long last Haydock came up with soft ground as opposed to heavy or bottomless and the Grade 3 Betfred Grand National Trial produced a tremendous finish as 11-year-old Lie Forrit denied the rejuvenated Harry The Viking by a head. Monbeg Dude was 19 lengths behind in third.

The first two are in great heart and Harry The Viking was favoured by the weights this time after finishing second to his old rival at Kelso. He did everything but win, leading early on and then coming with a renewed effort in the straight.

Lie Forrit (8/1) and Peter Buchanan had taken it up with three to jump but Harry The Viking came at him on the run-in and seemed likely to do enough, only for the winner to rally in tremendous style and snatch the verdict.

The Kelso race was a veterans’ event and Lie Forrit might well have remained in that sphere but he deserved this chance and was giving Russell her third win in the race after stable hero Silver By Nature’s back-to-back triumphs in 2010 and 2011. Northern Irishman Buchanan has fared even better, also winning on Forest Gunner in 2005. “I love this horse because he’s all heart,” Russell said. “He’s been better than ever this season, he loves his jumping and his confidence is so high.”

Lie Forrit is a hugely popular racehorse and it is easy to see why. When trained by Willie Amos he was ridden by Campbell Gillies, who won seven times on him.

Gillies, only 21, was tragically killed while on holiday in 2012 but his mother Lesley owns the horse in partnership with two other family members.

“We were in two minds about running but wanted to see if he could do three miles five,” she explained. “We think he can probably do four for the Scottish Grand National but there’s a still a question mark over how he copes with bigger fields.”

Harry The Viking has not won since December 2011, at which point he looked a very hot property for Paul Nicholls and part-owner Sir Alex Ferguson. However, he lost his way completely and it is greatly to trainer Sandy Thomson’s credit that the enthusiasm has been rekindled. Unlike Lie Forrit he does hold the Grand National entry but will almost certainly need too many to drop out to get a run.