Master takes first steps on National road The Young Master will this week get a taste of the famous Aintree birch when he is tested over Grand National-style fences in preparation for the Becher Chase on December 3rd. Connections of the seven-year-old are keen to use the Becher as a "dress rehearsal" for the big race back at Aintree in April. Third at the Cheltenham Festival in March before winning the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown, Neil Mulholland's inmate is owned by a syndicate that includes Robert Waley-Cohen. Waley-Cohen said: "The plan is to school him over Grand National-style fences. "He was meant to go for the Badger Ales Chase - the race he won then was disqualified from two years ago - but the ground was too quick for him. "He will go to the Becher Chase to see how that goes as a dress rehearsal." The Young Master is vying for early National favouritism with a number of firms, in company with last year's runner-up The Last Samuri and Gordon Elliott's Don Poli.
