Robert Walford calls time with Becher Chase hero Walk In The Mill
Dual Aintree winner bows out.
Walk In The Mill, a dual winner of the Becher Chase, has been retired after pulling up at Warwick earlier this month. The 11-year-old was never happy at any stage of the Classic Chase and jockey James Best called a halt after the 12th obstacle. Before that disappointing effort, Walk In The Mill had fallen at the Chair at Aintree in early December as he failed in his bid to win the Becher for the third year running. After those two performances, his trainer Robert Walford felt the time was right to call it a day with his stable stalwart, who also covered himself in glory when fourth in the 2019 Grand National. “He’s absolutely fine. He just didn’t really want to know at Warwick. He wasn’t interested in racing,” said the Dorset handler. “He’s been an amazing horse for us. He’s done more than we could ever have dreamt of.“At some point something stops them racing and he didn’t want to go, so that’s that. “He’s been a good lad. He’s going back to his owner (Baroness Harding) to spend his retirement.” Walk In The Mill won six of his 30 races and amassed over GBP 307,000 in prize money.
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