Could Native River Be A Surprise Grand National Entry?

2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River is getting ready to start his campaign off with rumours from his yard that this year they are not ruling out a possibility of sending him to Aintree for the Grand National.

The Gold Cup is still very much on the agenda for the nine year older who will be entering the Grade One contest for the fourth time this season.

However, Colin Tizzard is not really wanting to talk about the future yet for his stable star until he gets his first race of the season out the way with him making his seasonal bow in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree on December 7.

Before he officially starts his season he will undergo a racecourse gallop at Newbury next week alongside stablemate Thistlecrack.

(Credit At The Races) Assistant trainer Joe Tizzard said: “He is going to have a gallop on Tuesday at Newbury, then the first target is the Many Clouds at Aintree.

“We will make a plan after that. He is ready to have a gallop and as you will see on Tuesday he looks great.

“At the moment it is all about the Many Clouds. Hopefully he will go for another Gold Cup and that would be the main plan and I would think we would take in something like the Denman again en route.

“We have not ruled the Grand National out and it’s a possibility after the Gold Cup, but he could easily run in the Bowl there as well.”