Double Shuffle handed Grand National aim by Tom George
Last Updated: 27/02/17 10:10am
Double Shuffle will now be pointed towards the Randox Health Grand National after finishing second in the BetBright Chase at Kempton.
Tom George has already decided to skip Cheltenham with the seven-year-old, who was having just his second run over three miles.
"I'm delighted with Double Shuffle," said George. "He made an uncharacteristic mistake three out and lost a bit of momentum, but he stayed on well afterwards. He is an improving horse and has 10st 6lb for the National.
"He will miss Cheltenham to concentrate on the Grand National."
George will also run Saint Are at Aintree, after the 2015 runner-up ran a blinder at Doncaster on Wednesday.
"It was a great run," added George. "It is coming into his time of year, as he loves the better ground.
"He was only beaten a head at Doncaster, under a big weight, which gets him back on track and spot on where we want to be.
"I did give him an entry in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival just to keep his options open - we needed to get a run into him before Aintree and just had to have a back-up in case something happened at Doncaster.
"Obviously, I need to have a word with his owner (David Fox), but Aintree is our priority.
"The ground just went against him in the Grand National last year. He is fine on good to soft, but once it gets softer than that (the going was soft in the 2016 Grand National), he does start to struggle."
