Ayiko to start off over fences at Hexham The Stuart Crawford-trained Ayiko is set to start off over fences at Hexham on Wednesday and is one of five declared for the Weatherbys 'Chasing Excellence' Beginners' Chase. Successful over flights at Ayr in January, the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned six-year-old was last seen finishing third of 18 in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Novice Handicap Hurdle Series Final at Fairyhouse on Easter Tuesday. Henri The Second and Kilmore Rock are amongst the opposition on Wednesday, with the Paul Nicholls-trained former the likely favourite. Switching to the larger obstacles "I was kind of sorry I didn't go to Ayr with him, but sure I can't rewind the clock," Crawford commented. "I would love to have come here (Navan), but I was getting well warned that I couldn't take on Final Demand and Kopek Des Bordes, and those type of horses. "He's a nice horse and he's always going to be a chaser really - soft ground, winter-time horse. "For a Hexham midweek race, it has ended up with a few highly-rated horses in it. "The way it has gone in England, they have opened up a lot more of these as beginners' (chases) rather than novice handicaps, for those higher-rated horses to try and get them out. "I'm keen to go over fences. Strong form lines "The form of the novice handicap final in Fairyhouse has worked out well. Declan Queally's horse (Custom Taylor) came out and won very easily again. I ran the fourth horse (Al Kalila) there in against handicappers and was just beaten in Kelso (second)." Additional reporting by Michael Graham
