More Aintree glory for Milan

The Philip Hobbs-trained Duke Of Lucca (9g Milan-Derravaragh Native, by Be My Native) came out best in a thrilling finish to the Listed Betfred Chase on Grand National day at Aintree. The nine-year-old, bred by Liam Gilsenan, was scoring 24 hours after his sire Milan was represented at Aintree by Beat That (6g Milan-Knotted Midge, by Presenting), an impressive winner of the G1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle “That was fantastic. I thought that when he missed the third last our chance had gone because he had jumped really well up until then but he stayed on very well,” said Hobbs. “Maybe his run in the cross-country chase at Cheltenham helped him because he travelled much better than usual today. Richard went a little bit wide because sometimes that helps to get him to travel better but he was really good. “He’s a horse that wants good ground and he ran well in the cross-country chase at Cheltenham so I think we might go to the La Touche Cup at Punchestown.” Jockey Richard Johnson added: “He looks after himself which probably isn’t a bad thing and he is a good horse. Sometimes, you need him to put that extra bit in and, luckily enough, we were in the right place today.”