Burke buoyed by Douvan absence Leading jockey Johnny Burke has challenged Sizing John to "step up to the plate" in the Merseyrail Manifesto Novices' Chase at Aintree on Thursday. The Henry de Bromhead-trained six-year-old was once again left trailing in Douvan's wake when runner-up in the Arkle Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival. And in order to avoid another clash, Sizing John tests the water over two and a half miles for the first time in the opening race of the three-day Grand National meeting on Merseyside. "I'm glad we don't have to worry about Douvan this time and I'm looking forward to it," said Burke. "We're going into new territory over the extra half a mile, but he gives you the impression he'll stay. "You never really know until you try, but if you could pick somewhere to give it a go Aintree would be the place. "Hopefully we can get into a good rhythm and it would be great for Sizing John if he could win it. If it wasn't for Douvan he'd be a great horse. "He has to go and win his Grade One now. Hopefully he can step up to the plate." Sizing John features in an eight-strong field that includes JLT Novices' Chase third L'Ami Serge and Garde La Victoire, a faller when well fancied for the same event three weeks ago. His trainer Philip Hobbs told At The Races: "It's an open race but he must have a really good chance. "Richard (Johnson) was confident he would have finished very close."
