Weather Watch For D´estruval Team Jazz d´Estruval looks set to be declared for the John Smith´s Mildmay Novices´ Chase at Aintree on Friday but his participation depends on the weather. Trainer Nicky Richards is hoping the heavens will open ahead of the Grade Two contest to give his eight-year-old the soft ground he revels in. 'I´ll probably declare him and if they get a bit of the rain that we have been getting, he may well run,' the Greystoke-based handler said today. After having to withdraw the grey from an intended outing at Carlisle two weeks ago owing to a patchy surface, Richards´ star chaser will be out to build on his promising first two runs over fences. On the latter occasion he had subsequent Royal & SunAlliance Chase winner Trabolgan toiling back in second, although he blotted his copy book at Market Rasen in March when he unseated Tony Dobbin before being remounted to finishrunner-up in a two-horse race. 'The ground was a bit patchy at Carlisle and was not totally correct there, and if it is the same at Aintree, he won´t run there either,' Richards added. 'After that there is only one more race up at Perth, a novice chase, that I could run him in, but that might be a bit doubtful as it might be starting to dry up by then.' ? PA Sport
