HOWARD JOHNSON is looking to bring back his “standard bearer” in Saturday’s totetentofollow Old Roan Chase at Aintree this Saturday.
The County Durham handler will be hoping his eight-year-old can lead the charge for his stable this season and will start off in Saturday’s £60,000 Grade Two chase, the feature of Aintree’s seven-race card on the first day of their two-day autumn meeting.
The news of the death of triple World Hurdle winner Inglis Drever last week will have saddened all at Johnson’s stable. But they will be hopeful that Tidal Bay, who runs in the same Graham Wylie brown and black silks as Inglis Drever, can help lift some of the gloom.
Tidal Bay won two Grade One chases in the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham and John Smith’s Maghull Novices’ Chase over two miles of the Mildmay course at Aintree.
He was among the 12 entries for the Old Roan Chase, which is the first in the £100,000 70-race Order of Merit series, along with last two winners of the contest – Knowhere (2008) and Monet’s Garden (2007).
Tidal Bay will be having his first run since he was fifth to Voy Por Ustedes in the Grade One John Smith’s Melling Chase at Aintree back in April – the only time he has been out of the first two at the Liverpool track on five visits
Johnson said yesterday: “We are looking forward to getting Tidal Bay back on the racecourse. We had him hobdayed through the summer and we are hoping that has tidied him up.
“I would say at the minute that he will probably be our standard bearer this year.
“He jumped a few fences indoors this morning and looked good. He’ll school outdoors if it keeps drizzling like it is now and he will have a piece of work with Denis O’Regan up, probably tomorrow. If I’m happy and the ground is all right, we’ll go to Aintree.
“He is training well and we’ll weigh him on Wednesday. He actually looks like he’s carrying a lot more condition this year, which is good because he always looks gorky.”
