'Wedge exhibition but pace too fast' - Leighton Aspell with his big-race verdict
The dual Grand National-winning rider analyses Sandown's veterans' chase
The veterans' final, which gives horses aged ten and older a cracking opportunity to run in a £100,000 race, is, quite simply, the best addition to the fixture list in years.
The false start on Saturday indicated it was going to be a fast-run affair with plenty of competition for a prominent position on the downhill run to the first fence. That's quickly followed by a sharp right-hand bend and a poor start and slow jump at the first can leave you well behind.
On landing, they were taken along by Valadom and Lilly Pinchin, who went a strong gallop on a wet surface described as heavy by clerk of the course Andrew Cooper, which is rare on the chase track as heavy is mostly associated with the hurdles circuit at Sandown.
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