Melling Chase preview Tom George is hoping last year's winner God's Own will repeat the dose in the JLT Melling Chase at Aintree on Friday. Having finished fourth in the Queen Mother Champion Chase last season, he stepped up in trip to win this race from Al Ferof. Proving he really comes to himself at this time of year, he then went to Punchestown to beat the ill-fated Vautour and while he has been busier than usual this season, George always builds his campaign around the major spring festivals. While he could finish only fifth in the Champion Chase last month, that does not tell the whole story as he made two blunders before fading up the hill. "He is A1. He has come out of Cheltenham very well. He is spot on. He is fresh and we have had to step his work up a bit," said George. "Last year was the same, we have to step it all up after Cheltenham as that meeting always lights him up a bit. Anyway he is fine. "His race was lost at the top of the hill. OK, he made a mistake at the second-last, but what happened at the top of the hill was the costly error. "He has done it a few times around Cheltenham and you can't do that in a Champion Chase." Fox Norton was second in that race and was closing in on Special Tiara with every stride. He was beaten just a head at the line and trainer Colin Tizzard believes the step up in trip will be an advantage as Fox Norton tries to give Robbie Power a big success in his new role as retained rider for owners Alan and Ann Potts. Tizzard said: "I think the step up in trip will be an advantage. We very nearly ran him in the Ryanair at Cheltenham and this should be an ideal race for him. "We hope the course will suit him, but he is a good horse." Uxizandre failed in his bid to regain the Ryanair title last month and trainer Alan King believes he disliked being taken on for the lead by eventual winner Un De Sceaux at Cheltenham. Willie Mullins' multiple Grade One winner is not in opposition this time, but there is another confirmed front-runner in the shape of Philip Hobbs' Royal Regatta. "Uxizandre did not seem to enjoy it when Un De Sceaux rushed up to take him on early and, hopefully, things might be different without him in the race," King told his official website, www.alankingracing.com. "We are putting the visor back on - he wore it when winning the Ryanair at Cheltenham two years ago - and the drying ground will also be a plus, while he won the Grade One novice at Aintree in 2014, so there are plenty of positives." Ryanair runner-up Sub Lieutenant, Kerry Lee's pair of Kylemore Lough and Top Gamble, Nicky Henderson's Josses Hill and Gary Moore's Traffic Fluide complete the nine-runner field.
