The Christian Williams trained Potters Corner is currently at the top of the 51 entries for the Welsh Grand National, but with the handler having bigger targets for the stable star he might side step this race that the 10 year old won last term.
Although Williams would love a crack at defending the title in the Chepstow feature, he is looking to focus the horse at the Cheltenham festival and then the Grand National at Aintree, with his chance at the event last term scuppered by the ongoing crisis in the world.
The gelding has been a superb yardstick for the Welsh yard after landing the Welsh National last year and since then saved for this term, with his comeback run at Cheltenham being one to take note of, finishing a staying on third in the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham November meeting.
The @Coral Welsh Grand National goes to Wales! Potters Corner puts up a brave performance to win the feature event for @CWilliamsRacing and @jacktudor9 at @Chepstow_Racing pic.twitter.com/nAfnyeQljm
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) December 27, 2019
The event will set him up perfectly for his next event, with the horse set to be fitter for the run and he showed in the Cheltenham event that the further he went the better he became.
Aintree in April is the long-term target and the trainer is yet to firm up Potters Corner's route to the Grand National meeting.
(Credit ATR) He said: “I’ve not spoken to the owners yet, but obviously we’ve given him the entry in the race and we can make a decision later.
“It would be hard to pass up a big race like that, but we want to win the Grand National – which is a pretty big race too!
“Weight rises wouldn’t be the worry as much as he’s a 10-year-old now, so you don’t know how many more Nationals he will have in him and we thought the cross-country route might just give him a bit more longevity.
“I’ll have to talk to the owners and see what they want to do.”