Hunt Ball graduates to Grade 1 company Hunt Ball will move from handicap company to Grade 1 level to contest the Betfred Bowl at Aintree next week. Now on a mark of 154 after his popular success at the Cheltenham Festival, the Keiran Burke-trained seven-year-old has staggeringly risen over 80lb in the ratings since his victory at Folkestone in November. Burke told The Times: "He'll run in the Bowl because we want to know how good he is. "There were alternatives, but this is the right thing to do. Everything put up against him so far he has beaten well, but this is a different level. "I know he still has to improve a hell of a lot to be a Gold Cup horse next year. But if he shows at Aintree what I think he might be capable of, you couldn't rule it out. "It's a new era now. There will be no Denman or Kauto Star in the way."
