'He's always at his best in the spring' - Fakir D'Oudairies on course for Aintree hat-trick

Fakir D'Oudairies remains firmly on course to bid for a Marsh Chase hat-trick at Aintree with Joseph O'Brien convinced springtime brings the best out of his four-time Grade 1 winner.

Despite a disappointing defence of his Betfair Ascot Chase crown at Ascot last month, when sent off 7-4 favourite but beaten 23 lengths by Shishkin into third, Fakir D'Oudairies is 9-4 joint-favourite alongside Pic D'Ohry with bet365 to make it three in a row on April 14.

Pic D'Ohry is favourite elsewhere with Fakir D'Oudairies 11-4 with the likes of William Hill.

As was the case last year, connections skipped Cheltenham with Fakir D'Oudairies to be fresh for Aintree and O'Brien thinks the eight-year-old is in a good place.

The trainer said: "All is good with Fakir and the plan remains Aintree. Spring has been his big target all season and Aintree was the logical place to come again. He always seems to be at his best in the spring and I'm looking forward to it.

"It would be very special if he did win the race for a third time but it's not going to be an easy feat to achieve as it looks like it's going to be a very competitive race again."

Reflecting on his defeat by Shishkin at Ascot, O'Brien said: "They went a very strong pace from the word go at Ascot and conditions were very different to the race the previous year. He met a tip-top Shishkin, the real Shishkin, that day. We were there to win the race but I would like to think there is still some progress to come from him. As I said, he seems to be a better horse in the spring."

Fakir D'Oudairies will captain a strong O'Brien team set for Aintree with Banbridge, Nusret and Home By The Lee all likely to make the trip over.

"The plan is for Banbridge to run and he seems to be in very good form," the trainer said. "Nusret will run in the Grade 1 juvenile hurdle and Home By The Lee might run in the Liverpool Hurdle. You'd like to think he would have been right in the mix had he not made that mistake in front of the stands with a circuit to the race."

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