Aintree on the agenda for Wakea Karl Thornton is planning a crack at another big spring festival with Cheltenham also-ran Wakea. The six-year-old finished 11th behind Arctic Fire in the County Hurdle, beaten just five and a half lengths, after building up a clear lead of around 15 lengths at one stage in the Grade Three heat. While his early efforts told in the finish, Thornton believes Wakea is worth another shot at a feature meeting, with Aintree ranking particularly highly as a possible port of call as long as the ground is suitable. "He is fine, there is not a bother on him since Cheltenham. The plan is to go to Aintree with him now, either there or Punchestown or Fairyhouse. "The conditional jockeys' race on the Saturday is the race I have in mind at Aintree. The track should suit him there a little bit better. Ground would be an issue with him, if it turned up soft at Aintree he will stay at home. "He won his maiden hurdle and a handicap up the north by making all so it was the plan to try and do it again at Cheltenham. He is a horse with a high cruising speed. We just said if he could jump well we'd let him roll on in front. "He wasn't beaten far and he ran a blinder. He probably would have been suited better by the Tuesday and Wednesday track. Donagh (Meyler) said he can go a ridiculous gallop and he doesn't really stop, anywhere else he might have got away with it. "He'll have a summer campaign anyway and he will mix it between the Flat and hurdles."
