Horse Power: Highland Hunter can win the Grand National Trial at Haydock Park

HIGHLAND HUNTER can win the Virgin Betfair Grand National Trial Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (3.20pm) at Haydock Park on Saturday afternoon.

Fergal O’Brien’s 11-year-old should enjoy the challenge of the feature at the Merseyside track and can triumph and potentially book his ticket to the 2024 Randox Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in eight weeks’ time.

Whether he can land the world’s greatest steeplechase at Aintree on April 13 is debatable, but he can at least enhance his credentials with victory in the Trial. Although there are a number of Grand National winners on the roll of honour of the 3m4f Haydock contest with Freebooter (1949), Sundew (1957), the mighty Red Rum (1975) and Party Politics (1993) – as well as same season Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Cool Ground (1992) and Master Oats (1995) – no horse has grabbed glory at both Merseyside tracks in the same campaign. 2012 Aintree hero Neptune Collonges came closest, finishing a narrow second at Haydock behind Giles Cross before his similarly close victory in the big one a few months later. Like Neptune Collonges was, Highland Hunter is an 11-year-old and was formerly trained – like the galloping grey – by champion Paul Nicholls. Older horses have done well in the National Trial at Haydock with two 11-year-olds and two 10-year-olds winning in the past five seasons.

Highland Hunter was highly-regarded when trained by Nicholls, winning the London National at Sandown, before finishing second to the reopposing Iwilldoit in the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow in 2021. He has clearly had his issues over recent seasons and had almost 17 months off the track before joining the O’Brien stable. And despite unseating Paddy Brennan after a bad mistake at