IF you fancied Le Breuil for the Grand National before he ran in the Classic Chase at Warwick on Saturday, you shouldn’t lose faith now, despite the fact that he could finish only fifth behind Kimberlite Candy.

Nothing went right for Le Breuil on Saturday. He missed the kick from the standing start, and he was always playing catch-up after that. Fourth last around the first turn, he wasn’t great over the first two fences, and he was second last passing the winning post first time. He must have been about 20 lengths behind the leader Captain Chaos.

And this was in a race in which the pace held up very well. The first four home were first, second, third and fourth over the first fence. Le Breuil did well to finish fifth.

Handicapper

There is an up-side for Ben Pauling’s horse too, because the handicapper dropped him by 3lb to a mark of 145. If he had won the race, he could have gone up by 7lb or 8lb. That should see him get into the Grand National on a lovely racing weight. Last year, a rating of 143 got into the race. The only downside is that, with Tiger Roll in the race, Jamie Codd, who won the National Hunt Chase on Le Breuil in March, may not be able to do the weight.