Grand National News: Kim Bailey hoping Two For Gold will be Aintree number one
- Planet Sport writer
- 2 March 2022
Kim Bailey knows a thing or two about preparing a Grand National winner and his Two For Gold will go for the big one at Aintree on April 9 after a good run at Ascot.
Two For Gold's recent runner-up effort to Fakir D'Oudairies in the Ascot Chase has convinced connections to go for the Randox Aintree Grand National.
Trainer Kim Bailey confirmed that the Aintree big one on April 9 will be his target, so long as the ground is right.
The nine-year-old was beaten just a length and three-quarters by Joseph Patrick O'Brien's charge at Ascot.
Although Two For Gold unseated David Bass after the Canal Turn in the Topham Chase over the National fences last April, connections are keen to run Two For Gold in the extended four-and-a-quarter-mile handicap at Liverpool, where he is set to shoulder 10st 11lb.
Bailey said: "He got quite tired at Ascot. He gave his all and he had a hard race.
Top horse! Fakir D’Oudairies sees off the brave Two For Gold and wins the Grade 1 @Betfair @Ascot Chase for Mark Walsh and @JosephOBrien2 pic.twitter.com/jmwCXtwGso
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) February 19, 2022
"I spoke to the owners this morning and the plan is to go to the National and we will see what the ground is. If it was soft ground, he will probably run, if it is not, he won't.
"We don't really have a back-up plan, because he has done what he can do this season and he is ground-related, he wants soft ground."
"That was a phenomenal performance at Ascot," he said. "I was watching from Sri Lanka and I could not believe it.
"He was 25-1 and thought he would be lucky to be third or fourth, but he looked like he was going to win at the second last, which was more than I expected.
"He has kept on improving all season. He ran a good race at Lingfield when landing the Fleur de Lys Chase and he has kept on improving with every single run.
"The National is a possibility. I worked for Fred Rimell and he always felt that a good National Horse wants two and a half miles and he does that very comfortably."
