The former Champion Chase winner's next race depends on the ground at Aintree, the trainer and Betway ambassador says...
I can report that Sire De Grugy is in really good form and I’m very keen to run him in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree on Sunday.
However, the only potential problem is the ground as we are in desperate need of some rain.
In reality, good to soft would be fine, but any quicker than that would be a worry.
The one thing I really don’t want to do is drag him all the way up there, like we did at Chepstow, only to pull him out last minute.
It’s like a race but without the benefits, and I don’t want to do that again.
We’ll probably make a call on it at declaration stage tomorrow. That will be up to the owners, but I know they are keen to run as they live up that way.
Hurdles run an option
His preparation has been good and he galloped well on Tuesday. If I’m honest, he’s working better than this time last year and has come back really strong.
We schooled him on Thursday and he went really nicely – I couldn’t be happier with him.
I’m just really keen to get a run into him before the Tingle Creek at Sandown as it worked last year and will hopefully work again.
All of mine seem to be needing a run at the moment as we haven’t been able to gallop them on grass.
If we didn’t go to Aintree, then I certainly wouldn’t rule him out of having a run over hurdles to prepare him for Sandown.
I suppose we have got the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham next month, but I’d only really consider that if the ground came up really soft.
Ar Mad and Traffic Fluide both coming along nicely
Even though he hasn’t schooled yet as the ground has been too quick, I can tell you that Ar Mad is in great order and moving really nicely.
We will be stepping his work up gradually over the coming weeks, but he looks great and I’m delighted with the way he is coming along.
The plan with him remains to head straight to the Tingle Creek as the race is right for him.
We can get him fit at home and take him somewhere for a racecourse gallop if we need to.
As for Traffic Fluide, he is fine as well and is also looking good. He’s on a very similar programme to Ar Mad and is also likely to have a racecourse gallop somewhere.
The obvious race for him looks to be the Tingle Creek, too.
There is a very good chance that Sire De Grugy, Ar Mad and Traffic Fluide could all end up in that race at Sandown.
From my perspective, I’ll be doing my best to avoid that, as I’d rather they didn’t all take each other on.
