Balla can't live with Skippers at Kelso Skippers Brig lowered the colours of Ballabriggs in the totesport.com Premier Chase at Kelso. Wearing the familiar colours of Ashleybank Investments Limited, the ten year old continued the good run of form being enjoyed by Nicky Richards when wearing down the odds-on favourite Ballabriggs on the famously long Kelso run in. Leading Aintree Grand National favourite Ballabriggs travelled well for most of the contest but dived at the final ditch with the majority of the field closely grouped in behind on his heels. Jason Maguire pushed the favourite into a clear advantage after the last but Skippers Brig gradually began to wear him down under a strong ride from Brian Harding. A smart performer in his prime, Skippers Brig - who has done the majority of his winning on heavy ground - proved that the fires still burn strongly and ran on in determined fashion to score by a length and a half. Richards has his sights set on the National with his 11-year-old - and was not totally ruling out a stop at Cheltenham on the way if the heavens opened. The Greystoke handler said: "I'm delighted with him, Brian (Harding) thought he was always going to pick him (Ballabriggs) up and that's what happened. "Brian knows the track well and rode a beautiful race on him. You wouldn't want to run him on anything faster than this, but he has always been useful and has done me proud. "It's all ground dependant, if we had a lot of rain we might think about Cheltenham but hopefully we will have a wet National this time. "I hope we can sneak in at the bottom (of the weights), it's where you want to be and I think he's one of the classier ones at the bottom. "Brian is confident he would enjoy it at Aintree, he's a big, scopey horse and there's no reason why he wouldn't go and have a pop at it." Despite defeat, McCain was thrilled with Ballabriggs, who will head straight to the National on April 9. He said: "I'm delighted with him. He was odds-on but that's the bookies, not me. This was a prep for the National and he travelled and jumped great. "It turned into a bit of a sprint and he's not a sprinter. Jason was delighted with him. "I am trying to make sure we do it right and have him ready for the day. This is a great place to come and have a prep and he will go straight there. "He'll have a gallop somewhere along the line and with a clear round he will run a hell of a race," he told At The Races. Sky Bet slashed the winners odds for the Grand National from 50-1 to 33s and left Ballabriggs unchanged at 14-1.
