Trainer Warren Greatrex heaps praise on Emitom after earning a trip to Grand National at Aintree  

Trainer Warren Greatrex hailed Emitom as ‘being right up there with the best I have trained’ after the gelding extended his unbeaten sequence and earned a trip to the Grand National meeting at Aintree next month with victory at Newbury on Friday.

The five-year-old made it five wins from five runs with a three-quarter length win from Interconnected in the RR Elite National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle.

The 6-4 favourite had to concede 10lb to the runner-up and succeeded despite a bad mistake down the back straight that had jockey Gavin Sheehan picking his mount’s nose off the floor.

Trainer Warren Greatrex hailed Emitom as ‘being right up there with the best I have trained’

Emitom missed his potential prep race for the Cheltenham Festival when the Sydney Banks Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon last month was called off because of the equine flu outbreak.

That caused Greatrex to change his plans but he believes he has a gelding who could develop into a Festival hope for many years to come.

The trainer said: ‘He is a seriously good horse and he is right up there with the best I have trained. What I liked today was that he really had to fight. The Cheltenham Festival isn’t the be all and end all and he will be able to go back there for rest of his career.’

Also Aintree-bound is Paul Nicholls-trained Christopher Wood, who landed the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Juvenile Hurdle under Harry Cobden by eight lengths.

‘He is a seriously good horse,’ said Greatrex after the gelding extended his unbeaten sequence