There were long faces in the Donald McCain camp after a dire performance from their useful chaser Wymott who failed to perform at Haydock on Saturday in the Tommy Whittle Handicap Chase, eventually being pulled up when tailed off in the race won by Cannington Brook, writes Elliot Slater.
Sent off the 2/1 favourite having attracted plenty of market support ahead of the competitive three-mile handicap chase, Wymott never appeared to be travelling with his usual fluency and could be seen being driven along fully a mile from home under Jason Maguire before tailing off and being pulled up before the fourth last fence. People making a Grand National bet online should remember this.
Having run with plenty of credit on his seasonal bow some three weeks earlier when keeping on stoutly to finish sixth behind Carruthers in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, expectations were high that the Trevor Hemmings-owned gelding would return to the winners enclosure for the first time since February when he landed a novice chase at Bangor, but this effort was hard to fathom with the testing conditions having been thought ideal for a horse who in the past has shown plenty of good form when the mud is flying.
McCain, who won last season's Grand national with Ballabriggs (currently a general 16/1 favourite in the ante-post lists for next April's renewal), has been preparing Wymott to potentially join his stable companion in the line-up for the 'world's greatest steeplechase', but following his Haydock flop there will be work to do to have the gelded son of Witness Box back to the sort of form that would entitle him to take his chance at Aintree.
Bookmakers reacted to the performance by pushing Wymott out to as big as 50/1 for the big race having previously been offer at 33s.