National pair likely to be spot on for the big day after Kelso prep

Last week I made the argument that form goes out of the window if a horse simply isn’t at his or her peak on the day of the race, and we saw another example in Saturday’s Premier Chase at Kelso.

Le Milos and The Shunter shared the highest BHA mark of 152 in the field, but they were eclipsed by the 141-rated Empire Steel, who had no right to beat either on their best form.

Sandy Thomson was the trainer who had his runners at their peak. Not only did he prepare Empire Steel for the Premier Chase, but he also had Benson bang on for the Morebattle.