Harriet Graham in a quandary with Aye Right

Simon Milham
November 30, 2022 4:57 pm

Chaser is too highly rated for veterans’ chases.

Harriet Graham is struggling to work out how best to campaign Aye Right for the rest of the season after he disappointed at Newcastle on Saturday.

Graham, who trains Aye Right in partnership with Gary Rutherford, is concerned that there are too few races for horses rated between 145 and 160.

Aye Right, owned by Geoff and Elspeth Adam, was pulled up behind L’Homme Presse when attempting to win the Rehearsal Chase for a second year in succession, but Graham was offering few excuses.

You can just make out Aye Right winning the Betfair Exchange Rehearsal Handicap Chase 🥇
Some seriously tough conditions up in @NewcastleRaces 🌨
Watch LIVE📺 ITV3📱 https://t.co/n1wgfqSBnz pic.twitter.com/s6KgwvwKDx

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) November 27, 2021

“He’s come out of the race really well,” she said. “The race wasn’t run to suit him, basically, and I thought he was up against some really nice horses.

“He does like to dominate and, off a mark of 157, he was unable to get that nice start that he usually likes to get, because the race was run at quite a high tempo on ground that was probably a bit quicker than they were calling it.

“It was fine, lovely, safe ground. There was nothing wrong with it. It just wasn’t his day, basically.”

He returned with a fine run at Kelso, chasing home the progressive Sounds Russian, before his Rehearsal Chase disappointment.

Graham said: “It is really difficult finding races for him off 157. Where do you go? Do you go to a conditions race, where he is not good enough to take on other horses off level weights? We have tried that.

“Or do you go handicapping? Obviously, there are some very nice races coming up, like the Rowland Meyrick, SkyBet Chase, the Ultima at Cheltenham, but probably we will always be near top weight in all those races.

“He is what he is. He’s a nine-year-old, coming up 10. He’s too highly rated to run in veterans’ chases, because they are 0-150s. So, we really do have to scratch our heads a bit.

“He has got such ability and such heart. He is an absolutely fantastic horse to train. The owners adore him, and we all know him really well – he has got quite a following up here.

“But we also do know his limitations. It is extremely difficult. We didn’t drop (in the handicap) for that run at Newcastle and we were raised 1lb for being four- and-a-half lengths second to a very progressive horse in Sounds Russian.

“Aye Right is a horse who is never going to get any faster. He is not going to change, and I really, really, strongly feel that the BHA handicapping system needs to keep horses like Aye Right in racing.”