Potters Corner was the hero at Chepstow last week as the nine-year-old romped home to victory in the 2019 Welsh National by a length-and-three-quarters and trainer Christian Williams will now be focusing on aiming the runner at the 2020 Randox Health Grand National in just over four months’ time.
Williams said: “I would say we will enter him in the Grand National and that would be the main aim as you don’t get too many options now.
“We will target that and hope that the ground is on the soft side. He looks a different horse on soft ground.
“It’s all a bit manic and we will have a think now. I might enter him up in some good races off level weights in soft ground – maybe Ireland.
“He might not be good enough to win them, but he might be good enough to run well in them. He has taken six hits from the handicapper on his last six runs over fences.
“I’ve never had a runner in the National before, so that will be great. He has got good tactical speed and a touch of class and he stays very well. They try and make it on the soft side there as well so he will definitely have an entry there.”
Potters Corner may have been triumphant at Chepstow on Friday afternoon but Williams was the first to admit that his campaign has been less than ideal of late and that his class proved crucial in last week’s success.
The trainer added: “I didn’t get a clean run with him last season. He had a nasty fall in the Eider Chase, he wasn’t quite right the week after and the Midlands National came a fortnight after that – I don’t think he went to the Midlands National in great form and he still won that.
“The way he jumped and travelled on Friday, he just looked better than them all the whole way round. After half a mile, a friend of mine, who is a good judge, thought he was going well.
“He finished third in the Aintree bumper when Buveur D’Air was fourth, Bellshill second and Barters Hill first and he won over three miles over hurdles – a lot of those four-mile chasers wouldn’t be able to do that as they are too slow as I’ve ridden plenty of them before.”
