Aintree plan follows Velvet victory

Velvet Elvis ' comeback special was aired at Fairyhouse today, returning to winning ways in the Fairyhouse Easter Festival Rated Chase, with trainer Tom Gibney now eyeing a tilt at Aintree's Grand National.

The seven year old concluded last season with a sixth-placing in the Irish National at today's venue, but was beaten 57 lengths on Munster National reappearance and subsequently pulled up in both the Troytown Chase and at Limerick over Christmas.

Ridden today by Darragh O'Keeffe, Velvet Elvis (7/2) turned around his season when making all to beat Minella Crooner by three and a half lengths.

Gibney reported “that's a relief for a small yard like ours as Derek (Kierans) is our biggest spending owner but the two horses he has with me (Velvet Elvis and Hartur D'arc) had flop simultaneously this season.

“We had very high hopes for both at the start of the season and we've done all the tests going, but had no answers and you are scratching your head. It was a 100 percent recovery mission here and we're definitely on the way back which is good.”

The Irish Grand National winning trainer added “Aintree (for the Grand National) was always the main aim from the start of the season but today could have been the end of the season if it was like the previous couple of races. We were just hoping to see him somewhere back to himself, that's all we were really hoping for.

“Jumping is what he's all about. We'll see how he is and hopefully he can build on that, because he'll have to.

“Aintree is definitely now the main plan, we'll have to see whether we go straight there or not, I don't know and we'll just see how he is.”

Quotes from Gary Carson