MONDAY, November 20th, 2017 - Haydock Park Racecourse and Betfair staged a media morning at Jessica Harrington's yard at Moone, Co Kildare in Ireland today ahead of the reappearance of Sizing John (5/2 with Betfair) in the £200,000 G1 Betfair Chase at Haydock Park on Saturday, November 25th.

The seven-year-old enjoyed a fabulous campaign in 2016/17, when he scored a trio of Group 1 victories in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown, Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup and Punchestown Gold Cup. Sizing John was trained by Henry De Bromhead up until September, 2016, when he joined Harrington.

The Betfair Chase forms the first leg of The Jockey Club Chase Triple Crown, which offers a £1-million bonus to any horse who can win the Betfair Chase, the G1 32Red King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day and the G1 Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup on March 16th.

It was the wish of Sizing John's owner Alan Potts, who sadly died last week at the age of 80, to mount a challenge for The Jockey Club Chase Triple Crown with Sizing John. Alan owned horses in partnership with his wife Ann, who passed away in August after a long illness.

Jessica Harrington said today: "If Sizing John is as good as last year, I'll be happy. Sizing John is seven, rising eight, and in theory horses should be at their optimum in their seven to eight season and then they slightly start to go downhill. My only worry is the three hard races last year might leave a mark on him but he had hard races the year before and seemed to come out of it very well.

"He is a very relaxed horse and his real strength is that he jumps chase fences at two-mile speed against three milers. When he lands, you can steady him up and go again.

"It was after Sizing John won at Leopardstown that we decided to go for the Gold Cup rather than the Ryaniar Chase at Cheltenham. I wasn't as confident as Robert (Power, jockey) that he would stay in the Gold Cup because in three months he had gone from two miles to three miles and two furlongs.

"The Betfair chase is bound to be a very good race. The Jockey Club Triple Crown will be very, very hard to win. If it happens, it happens. It's like the Lotto - if your first number doesn't come up, you know your fate.

"If we get over the first hurdle at Haydock, we have to go to Kempton and take on Might Bite, who looked very good the other day, and Willie (Mullins) will probably send over Djakadam too, so there will be plenty to take him on.

"I have Sizing John as fit as I hopefully can and he seems in good form. He was throwing his head around after he worked yesterday and looks good this morning but you never know until you get them to the racecourse.

Reflecting on her association with Alan and Ann Potts, Harrington continued: "I only trained for Alan Potts for 18 months. It was fantastic for him to send me a couple of fillies in the spring last year and then said in the autumn he told me he was sending me Sizing John and Supasundae.

Gordon Elliott is set to run Outlander (10/1), owned by Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud.

Elliott said today: "Outlander is a grand horse. He will probably travel over on Wednesday night and Jack Kennedy will take the ride.

"He had an operation for a kissing spine but it went grand and we got him back on track. We were just happy that he jumped a bit better on his first start of the season at Punchestown - it was a bit disappointing but I don't think that he was fit enough.

"We put cheekpieces on him at Down Royal, when Jack gave him a great ride, and we are very happy with him.

"The Betfair Chase looks a good race but we will take our chance. He is in great form and bouncing. He looks great and we couldn't be happier with him.

"If you go back to his Lexus run last season, it was very good. A lot of people fancied him as an outsider for the Gold Cup but he never jumped at all, which was obviously to do with his back.

"If he gets back to that Lexus run, he is good enough to line up at Haydock. The Down Royal run might not be strong enough form but his Lexus win would not be far off it. He can be a bit hit and miss, so hopefully he turns up on a going day.

"The heavier the ground, the better for Outlander. You have to respect Sizing John, Cue Card - when he is on a going day, he is brilliant - and Bristol De Mai. Every one of them in their own right is entitled to turn up but, if we get a bit of luck in running and everything works out, Outlander would have a good each-way chance.

The Betfair Chase - Betfair odds: 13/8 Bristol De Mai; 5/2 Sizing John; 3/1 Cue Card; 10/1 Tea For Two; 10/1 Outlander; 20/1 Traffic Fluide; 50/1 Shantou Flyer

EW 1/4 Odds 2 Places

The Betfair Chase - Betfair odds: 13/8 Bristol De Mai; 5/2 Sizing John; 3/1 Cue Card; 10/1 Tea For Two; 10/1 Outlander; 20/1 Traffic Fluide; 50/1 Shantou Flyer

EW 1/4 Odds 2 Places