Kayley Woollacott: Lalor will be 'electric' on better ground

Kayley Woollacott is retaining all her faith in her star novice chaser Lalor, despite his disappointing defeat in the Henry VIII Novices' Chase at Sandown on Saturday and believes he will be a different horse back on good ground.

The trainer said the testing conditions and right-handed track did not suit the six-year-old, who finished a 12-length third when sent off odds-on in the Grade 1 contest.

Lalor was a highly impressive winner at Cheltenham on his only other start over fences, comfortably beating Saturday's conqueror Dynamite Dollars by seven lengths in the Grade 2 Arkle Trial last month.

Woollacott said of the general 8-1 chance for March's Racing Post Arkle: "He has come back looking perfect and is absolutely fine.

"Richard [Johnson, jockey] said he hated the ground. It was very soft there and taking him was a bit of a gamble, we ran him because he won on soft at Aintree but he did hate it at Newbury in February.

Watch Lalor win the Arkle Trial at Cheltenham

"He is much better on better ground and it was just too deep for that grade of race. He coped okay with it at Aintree but it was not riding too bad that day. He seems to be wanting much better ground as he has looked electric on good ground.

"He has come home safe and well and that is the most important thing," Woollacott added. "He learnt a lot on Saturday, he jumped a fair few fences off the bridle which he was going to have to do at some point and I thought he jumped well. He tried his best and there are positives to come out of it."

Woollacott felt Lalor might have needed a longer recovery from his Cheltenham win and cited Sandown's right-handed track as further mitigation for Saturday's defeat.

Kayley Woollacott: 'He has always performed better off a bit more of a break, when he won at Aintree and Cheltenham we had him quite fresh'Credit: Harry Trump

"He has always performed better off a bit more of a break, when he won at Aintree and Cheltenham we had him quite fresh.

"We took the view that the Wayward Lad [Kempton, December 27] could be very hot and the ground might not be right for him, so we went to Sandown."

The Lightning Novices' Chase at Doncaster on January 26 is the next step for Lalor en route to the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Devon trainer added: "We have a long time until the Lightning, that would be the main target now. He will go there unless the ground is bottomless and then he has a good bit of time until Cheltenham.

"A left handed galloping track would suit him really well and the timing will work out very well, he will have a good seven weeks until Doncaster."

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