Evan Williams in no rush to map out Secret Reprieve plans

Keith Hamer
December 30, 2021 9:19 am

Gelding was last of five in Welsh National defence.

Evan Williams will give Secret Reprieve time to recover before making any plans after he was last of the five finishers in his defence of the Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow on Monday.

Williams felt Secret Reprieve badly needed the outing as the seven-year-old had not run since landing last season’s rearranged renewal in early January.

“He’s absolutely fine. He got very tired but everything is good,” said the Llancarfan trainer.

“I thought he ran like he desperately needed the run. I thought the trainer had left him looking rather well but he ran a very creditable race.

“We’ve got a run under our belts and I’d been so desperate to run him. It’s lovely when you get a run under their belts and we’ll see how he is in the next few weeks and go from there.”

Secret Reprieve just missed the cut for Randox Grand National last spring and he is likely to be given an entry though Williams feels, at this stage, he might miss out again.

“I’ll probably give him an entry in the Grand National. He’ll struggle to get into the National – he’ll get dropped for that – but he’s a long way short of the standard of getting into the race. We’ll play it by ear,” he added.