News 
/ Timeform / 25 March 2012 / Leave a Comment 
Will Treacle take to the formidable National fences?
""We schooled him over six fences the other morning. We set them up with the same dress code as the Aintree fences and all went well."
Trainer Tom Taaffe has secured the services of Andrew Lynch for the ride on Treacle in the Grand National at Aintree on April 14...
The 11-year-old was fourth in a veterans' race over the park fences at Aintree in October, but it was his two subsequent efforts which marked him down as a major National player.
Treacle was only narrowly beaten in the PP Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, when Lynch was at the helm, and then ran a stormer to grab third spot in the Irish Hennessy Gold Cup in February.
"Everything is going according to plan at this stage - we're very happy with him," said County Kildare-based Taaffe.
"Andrew Lynch will ride him. He was second on him in the Paddy Power over Christmas and we're delighted to have him.
"We're just under three weeks away from the race, so hopefully everything continues to go well between now and then.
"We schooled him over six fences the other morning. We set them up with the same dress code as the Aintree fences and all went well.
"We'll make travel plans nearer the time, but we'd like to go over early enough so he has time to settle in."
Treacle is currently trading at [28.0] for the Grand National on Betfair, with Timeform top-rated Prince de Beauchene [11.0] market leader.
Timeform weight-adjusted Grand National ratings:
PRINCE DE BEAUCHENE (FR) 193
SUNNYHILLBOY (IRE) 181
BURTON PORT (IRE) 179
SYNCHRONISED (IRE) 179
GILES CROSS (IRE) 178
NEPTUNE COLLONGES (FR) 178
WEIRD AL (IRE) 178
CAPPA BLEU (IRE) 177 +
BECAUSEICOULDNTSEE (IRE) 177
KILLYGLEN (IRE) 177
TREACLE (IRE) 176
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