West End Will Not Rock Aintree Again

The Aintree Grand National is without doubt one of the most gruelling horse races in any National Hunt season and trainer Alan King has now decided that West End Rocker, one the 2012 Grand National favourites, will not run over the Grand National fences again after the Becher Chase winner failed to end the season on a high at Sandown.

Two weeks after he fell at the second fence in the John Smith’s Grand National, West End Rocker was pulled up in the bet365 Gold Cup and King stated on his website:

“Aintree had clearly left its mark, and Wayne (Hutchinson) said that the horse did not even want to go down to the start at Sandown,”

“Granted, he won a Becher Chase over the big fences, but you never know how much running in a National has taken out of a horse until you roll the dice again.

“We live and learn at this game, and one thing is certain and that is that ‘Rocker’ will not be going anywhere near Aintree again.

“He will have a good summer off, and there are plenty of other good staying chases around for him. He loves Newbury and Warwick and seems to perform best on left-handed flat tracks.”