Patrick Neville has hope that The Real Whacker has a chance to cap off his season well on Saturday at Sandown in the bet365 Oaksey Chase.
After finishing an undefeated novice campaign over fences with an exciting victory over five-time Grade One winner Gerri Colombe at the Cheltenham Festival, things haven't gone exactly as planned this term for the North Yorkshire-based Irishman’s stable star.
The Real Whacker struck into himself when pulled up on his reappearance at the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November. Although he fared better when finishing fourth in the King George and in second place in the Cotswold Chase, he again failed to finish in the Gold Cup last month.
Neville believes the eight-year-old's poor performance was caused by the testing conditions at Prestbury Park, and he is optimistic that he can improve when he steps down in trip and class for this weekend's two-mile, six-furlong Grade Two race.
“He’s in great form and the ground is good. It’s the first time I’ve seen good ground in a long time, so we’re looking forward to it,” said the trainer. “He’s in good nick so hopefully he’ll get back on track. He came back from Cheltenham fine, the ground was heavy and he doesn’t act on that ground and that’s it. We kind of knew before we started, but we just took a chance with it being the Gold Cup. He ran well only when he was caught out by the ground, when he came off the bridle that was it but we’ll draw a line through that now and look forward to Saturday. He’s good and fresh and well and he definitely acts on nice ground. I wouldn’t worry about the trip, I wouldn’t worry about anything – the ground is the key thing.”