Rocker impressive in Becher Chase West End Rocker was a very easy winner of the Betfred Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday. Alan King's nine-year-old was sent off at 10/1 by punters who will have had few moments of anxiety as he took control on the second circuit. Wayne Hutchinson got him into a good rhythm early on and the pair made good headway after some faultless leaps around the Grand National fences. As plenty of rivals fell by the wayside West End Rocker joined Nicto De Beauchene for the lead and that horse began to tire at the business end. Niche Market (9/1) emerged as the main danger but he was 22 lengths behind the winner at the line. Ballyvesey (20/1) stayed on for third with Always Waining narrowly beaten into fourth. Betfred go 12/1 about the winner for the Grand National next April, with Sky Bet 20s from 40/1. Hutchinson said: "He thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. I schooled him on Thursday upsides Walkon and he was quicker than him and when we pulled up, Choc (Thornton, King's stable jockey) said 'you lucky sod!' "He's been fantastic to me. I won a handicap chase on him at Newbury and the Classic at Warwick on him last year. "He just finds his gear, jumps from fence to fence and likes this kind of track." Hutchinson added: "He was absolutely awesome. He usually takes a bit of time to get into his rhythm but after we crossed the Melling Road, he travelled lovely. "His jumping took him to the front and you could jump a house on him." On the recent changes to the Aintree fences, the jockey said: "You could definitely tell the fence that will be the first in the Grand National had been levelled out a bit. "There's still a big drop on Becher's Brook, but racing over those fences is what it is all about." West End Rocker's part-owner Barry Winfield said: "I was a bit worried about the ground today. April is still a long way off. "The Grand National is not really for me, the prize-money is good though, obviously. "Usually I would leave before the National to beat the traffic!"
