'This has been the aim the whole season' - Aye Right team eyeing Go North riches

Seven days on from their ambitious tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the team behind Aye Right will try to land one of the feature races on the opening afternoon of the Racing Post Go North Weekend.

Their 80-1 shot was last of nine finishers behind A Plus Tard on Friday but owners Geoff and Elspeth Adam, and trainers Harriet Graham and Gary Rutherford, have high hopes of landing the Go North Lady Buttons Mares' Series Final (3.30) at Musselburgh on Friday with recent course-and-distance winner Millarville.

The 2m4f handicap hurdle, worth £30,000, offers rich pickings for a mare with a BHA rating of just 109, and Graham said: "This has been the aim for the whole season. It has to be at the back of your mind when you've got a fairly lowly rated horse and you can qualify them for good prize-money like that.

"It's a super series for everybody, it gives us all something to aim for through the year with a mare like her, who's taken back to hurdling really well."

Harriet Graham: to take out a joint-licence with Gary RutherfordCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The Go North series, which was launched in 2019, offers a total of £285,000 in prize-money, spread across three days at Musselburgh, Kelso and Carlisle, in an effort to increase the quality of racing in the north.

Millarville has top weight in Friday's race but Graham, who is based in the Scottish borders, said: "She's won round there and we'd be quite hopeful, though obviously she's gone up slightly in the handicap. We'd expect her to be competitive."

Aye Right is none the worse for his effort in the Gold Cup, in which he showed up prominently to six out, and Graham said: "He's not good enough at that level but he certainly gave it a good go.

"You always have the dream in the back of your mind that possibly he might have got into a place, but he didn't disgrace himself at all.

"I need to talk to the owners but my gut feeling is there's one more run in him this season, either at Aintree - which could be a bit soon - or Sandown, where there is a conditions race and a long-distance handicap."

Read more about the Go North series:

Kelso boss hails Go North, 'a healthy development for racing in the north'

Red Rum and Lady Buttons among stars honoured in Racing Post Go North Series

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