The trainers to note when sending chasers into battle without usual headgear

Most betting angles you come across concerning headgear involve a horse wearing it, often for the first time, but chaser Third Intention’s decisive success in the Old Roan Handicap Chase at Aintree last month – the nine-year-old’s first win in 11 races – demonstrates how the right time to back a horse can be when they are without the headgear they wore in their last race.

Third Intention, running without the blinkers he had worn on his previous two starts, stayed on well on the run-in at Aintree, but he has not always found much for pressure and his trainer Colin Tizzard is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to trying to make Third Intention finish his races more strongly.

For a trainer to get to the bottom of why their horse finds little off the bridle is often not straightforward due to the many possible causes – some of the common ones are physical problems such as breathing issues, a lack of stamina or that the horse is ungenuine.