Emma Lavelle's My Silver Lining will continue her campaign in Saturday's Virgin Bet Grand National Trial at Haydock Park, rather than waiting for the Eider Chase at Newcastle.
The eight-year-old has been in sparkling form since winning the Sporting Agenda Challenger Series Mares' Chase Final at Cheltenham in April and broke through at the top-level when taking Warwick's Classic Chase in January. Always prominent under a confident ride from James Best, the mare demonstrated a gutsy attitude to hold off Galia Des Liteaux by three-quarters of a length.
Whilst trainer Emma Lavelle had both the Grand National Trial and the Eider Chase pencilled in as possibilities for her staying star, connections have made the decision to head to Haydock Park on Saturday.
"She's absolutely flying. Our original plan was to go to the Eider, so we discussed it today and it came down to the fact they are both going to be run on heavy ground – so do we want to run over three and a half this week or wait a week to run over four-and-a-quarter," said Lavelle.
"We only made the entry for Haydock as a bit of a back-up originally, but we just can't guarantee the ground will be any better next week and with an extra half a mile in that ground, it's a lost to ask of the mare.
"I wouldn't be worried about any track for her, but anywhere where jumping is at a premium suits her."
