Commander set to carry top-weight at Aintree Nigel Twiston-Davies reports that top-weight Imperial Commander is set to take his chance in the John Smith's Grand National. The 12-year-old is reported to be back in rude health after recovering from a lung infection that denied him the chance to reclaim his Gold Cup crown earlier this month. However, the participation of the Twiston-Davies-trained gelding, who would have to defy top weight of 11st 10lb at Aintree, still depends upon whether conditions are deemed suitable. Paul Costello, a part-owner of the horse, had earlier on Wednesday indicated that plans remained up in the air, but Twiston-Davies told Racing UK: "It looks like he will run in the National unless it's very deep. That's the plan." Wyck Hill has definitely been ruled out of the big race by trainer David Bridgwater. The nine-year-old suffered a badly cut leg when disappointing on his first run for leading owner JP McManus in the Racing Plus Chase at Kempton last month. Bridgwater said: "He had a nasty gash after Kempton and, unfortunately, that meant we had to miss a couple of weeks with him. "He's back in full work now and he's fine, but we just missed too much work with him, so we're run out of time for Aintree. "We'll have to wait another year to have a crack at the National, but there are plenty of options for him for the end of this season. "There is the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown and Punchestown, so we'll see."
