Horse racing: David Pipe on his busy weekend with plenty of runners

WE HAVE been waiting to run VIEUX LION ROUGE for some time now and he will take his chance in Saturday's Becher Chase (1.30pm) at Aintree, a race he won two years ago.

The ground just hasn’t been right for him and that’s the reason we were unable to get a prep race into him. That’s not too much of a worry though as he goes well fresh and will love the ground.

He seems to jump these ‘National’ fences better than regular park ones too. We have also tinkered with his wind over the summer, so I am hopeful he will put up a bold show with plenty in his favour.

It’s going to be a busy few days with runners everywhere and another who has been waiting for the rain is FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT who could run in the valuable handicap (2.25pm) at Sandown.

He’s useful on his day can go well with his ideal conditions if we let him take his chance. I decided not to run RAMSES DE TEILLEE last weekend and instead wait for the Coral Welsh Grand National Trial (2.30pm) at Chepstow instead.

He is another who seems in good form at home and goes particularly well at the track. They have had plenty of rain which is another huge plus and he should go well.

As for Friday's runners, I’ve got five runners across two different tracks. Keep an eye out for REMASTERED who won really nicely last time and takes his chance in the novice hurdle at Exeter (1.30pm).

WARTHOG is set to make his chasing debut for us in the novices’ handicap (1.55pm) at Sandown. He has always been a horse we have held in high regard and has been schooling really nicely.

I’m just hoping he can transfer what he does at home onto the racecourse.