Mauricio Pochettino called for more trust and urged the Chelsea fans to offer “unconditional” backing to his young team after they progressed into the FA Cup semi-finals with a roller-coaster 4-2 win over Leicester.

Stoppage-time goals by substitutes Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke settled a last-eight clash that had everything, with Leicester reduced to 10 men after Raheem Sterling’s missed first-half penalty, while the Blues’ Axel Disasi also produced extraordinary own goal.

When Disasi fired his back pass beyond goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in the 51st minute, it offered Leicester a lifeline and they levelled in stunning fashion 11 minutes later when Stephy Mavididi rifled into the corner.

The Stamford Bridge crowd were ready to turn when Sterling blazed a free-kick into the stand, which was met with boos, after the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Callum Doyle brought down Nicolas Jackson.

Pochettino’s decision to take off Mykhailo Mudryk and not Sterling was greeted with chants of, ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’, but the Chelsea boss had the last laugh, with Chukwuemeka slotting home in the first minute of stoppage time before Madueke curled home from range to clinch a Wembley return.

“For a second time, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, we are going to Wembley,” former Tottenham manager Pochettino insisted.

“When I arrived in England at Southampton, they said, ‘we need to go to Wembley, we need to go to Wembley’. In Tottenham, ‘we need to go to Wembley, we need to go to Wembley’.

“Now look in nine months in two different competitions we got to Wembley and we need to enjoy and we need to trust more.

“I am a very positive person. I really believe in our fans, I really believe in our club and I really believe the most important in our staff we have today because all the staff are fantastic. And of course our players.

“Young (players) but I am enjoying a lot trying to help them achieve what they want. Of course all together we will succeed, no doubt.”

Chelsea had started well against their second-tier opponents with Jackson impressively able to burst past Jannik Vestergaard to set up Marc Cucurella for a 13th-minute opener.

It should have been 2-0 when Sterling was caught in the area by Abdul Fatawu, but the penalty by the Blues attacker was poor and Jakub Stolarczyk saved the scuffed effort with his feet.

Sterling had taken the ball off Palmer, who had scored all five of his spot-kicks this season, although the duo combined before half-time with the latter able to sweep home for his 14th goal of the campaign.

A dramatic second half was to follow, but the Chelsea boss attempted to defend Sterling after he took his penalty record to five misses from nine kicks.

Pochettino added: “Raheem asked for the ball for the penalty and Cole gave the ball. You saw on the TV but that is not a problem.

“Cole can miss, Raheem can miss. For me, their decision and I will always support the decision of my players on the pitch.

“It’s obvious that I cannot hide nothing. You are like me, the feelings weren’t good for him (Sterling) but I am going to support him, we are all going to support him.

“We need to accept. It doesn’t mean we agree or not agree but we have to accept because our fans, all the fans in football live expectation and want the best for the club, the best for the players.

“Of course when you don’t match the expectation, this is difficult thing for our fans to understand. I was talking in the past and I am strong. I have no problem.

“We will keep moving in the same direction and of course we want to create better emotion. I cannot lie, I hope the next game our fans will be always unconditional behind the team because we are representing Chelsea.

“The players also want to give the best for the club and for the fans. We want to make happy our fans and we are going to try.

“I hope we can create until the end of the season a good connection with the fans, but I am never going to criticise the fans. Never, because they are entitled to say what they want.”

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca praised his team, adding: “The most important thing is we don’t lose our identity.

“It doesn’t matter if it is Chelsea or Bristol City. We are just working since the first day one way and we will continue until the end.”

West Ham were controversially denied a stoppage-time winner by a farcically long VAR decision in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

Referee Jarred Gillett and VAR Tony Harrington spent over five minutes agonising over whether a scrappy goal from Konstantinos Mavropanos had hit the arm of Tomas Soucek on its way in.

The replays looked inconclusive, with a post obscuring the view of a sea of arms and legs on the goal-line.

But the goal was eventually ruled out, one of three chalked off for the Hammers, to leave boss David Moyes dismayed.

It meant Nicolo Zaniolo’s goal rescued a point for Villa after Michail Antonio had headed West Ham into a first-half lead.

Moyes stuck with the four-pronged attack which put five past Freiburg in the Europa League on Thursday with Antonio ahead of Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen.

While usually willing to sit back and let the opposition have the ball, West Ham suddenly developed a pressing game – and Villa were rattled.

Paqueta had a shot deflected wide by team-mate Soucek from Bowen’s cutback and Vladimir Coufal’s drive was blocked by Emi Martinez.

The breakthrough came after half-an-hour when Coufal swung in another cross and the diving Antonio got in front of Ezri Konsa to head home his first goal since August.

Kudus had the ball in the net shortly afterwards but Gillett had already blown for a foul on Martinez by Antonio.

West Ham had another goal disallowed, more contentiously, just after the break when Antonio bundled in a Bowen corner.

Martinez, in front of another eccentric South American goalkeeper, Rene Higuita of ‘scorpion kick’ fame, totally missed the ball but VAR Harrington ruled Antonio had put it in with his arm.

Villa began to rally as West Ham’s energy levels dipped, and Alphonse Areola saved a 20-yarder from Youri Tielemans and a stinger through a crowd of bodies from Konsa.

An equaliser looked inevitable and it came after 78 minutes when Tielemans sent Moussa Diaby scampering down the right.

Diaby’s cutback found fellow substitute Zaniolo who arrived in the box right on cue to prod the ball past Areola.

In stoppage time Matty Cash stopped what looked a certain goal for James Ward-Prowse before Mavropanos, up for a corner, scooped the ball into the net.

In a scene reminiscent of Saturday’s Six Nations, Bowen and Soucek tried to force the ball over the line.

Gillett, after more than four minutes, was eventually beckoned to the pitchside TV screen and somehow decided the Czech midfielder had used an arm, disallowing the goal to a chorus of boos and earning an earful from Moyes after the final whistle.

Skipper Harry Kane has travelled to join up with the England squad despite sustaining an ankle problem in Bayern Munich’s win at Darmstadt on Saturday.

The 30-year-old striker was substituted late on in the Bundesliga contest, which Bayern won 5-2.

Boss Thomas Tuchel said in quotes on Bayern’s official website on Saturday that Kane had “twisted his ankle in the goal netting” and “been applying ice to it since”, adding: “We don’t have any news yet. We’ll have to wait and see and hope that it’s nothing major.”

A statement from the club on Sunday read: “Harry Kane injured his left ankle in FC Bayern’s 5-2 win at Darmstadt.

“The striker has still travelled to international duty with England and will be treated by the team doctors there, in close consultation with the FC Bayern medical department.”

Gareth Southgate’s England are set to play friendlies at Wembley against Brazil next Saturday and Belgium three days later.

Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund was quoted by Bild on Sunday as saying Kane “won’t take any risks.”

Kane, England’s all-time highest scorer with 62 goals, broke the record for most goals netted in a debut Bundesliga season by registering Bayern’s second just before half-time against Darmstadt, taking him to 31.

The former Tottenham man said on X, formerly Twitter: “Proud to break a Bundesliga record but more importantly another good win.”

Martin Brassil’s Fastorslow is none the worse for his unsupervised trip around Cheltenham and will now take aim at Punchestown.

The eight-year-old started at 8-1 under J J Slevin with some eyecatching form to his name, including a second-placed finish in the Ultima behind subsequent Grand National winner Corach Rambler 12 months ago.

From there he headed to the Punchestown Gold Cup and notably defeated both Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame, the 2023 Gold Cup first and second.

That form held when he returned to action this season as his debut came in the John Durkan at Punchestown, where he beat Galopin Des Champs again as Willie Mullins’ stable star could only come home in third.

The two horses did switch roles next time out, however, with Fastorslow the runner-up in the Irish Gold Cup as Galopin Des Champs returned to winning ways and staked his claim on a Cheltenham repeat.

As such Galopin Des Champs was a well-justified 10-11 shot on Friday and eventually prevailed by three and a half lengths, whereas Fastorslow met with misfortune at the 16th obstacle and parted ways with Slevin.

Horse and rider were unharmed and Fastorslow’s herd instincts kept him amongst the field right until the end, as he crossed the line in second place without his rider having briefly threatened to interfere with the progress of the winner.

Brassil reports him to show no ill effects for the jaunt and he will now be aimed at a repeat of last season’s Punchestown success.

“He’s fine, he’s come out of it well,” the trainer said,

“The race hadn’t really developed (when he unseated at 16th).

“He’ll go to Punchestown all being well.”

Olympic champion Max Whitlock took pommel horse gold at the British Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool on Sunday.

The 31-year-old, who returned to action last year after retaining his Olympic pommel horse title in Tokyo in 2021, won with a score of 15.250 at the M&S Bank Arena.

Whitlock is building up to what would be his fourth Games this summer in Paris, and he said: “It feels good. It feels good to be back.

“Since after Tokyo it’s been a bit of a roller coaster for me with a year out of the sport, coming back in, and it’s crazy that we’re in the Olympic year now.

“So 2024 has really started…and I’m really pleased with that.”

Chelsea needed stoppage-time goals from substitutes Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke to edge past 10-man Leicester 4-2 in a wild FA Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side led 2-0 before the visitors stormed back to level, but a glorious flick from the excellent Cole Palmer set up Chukwuemeka to slot the ball into the corner to put Chelsea 3-2 up before Madueke gave the score some gloss with a brilliant solo effort.

Chelsea were two up at the break thanks to goals from Marc Cucurella and Palmer, while Raheem Sterling had a first-half penalty saved.

A surreal own-goal from Axel Disasi and a Stephy Mavididi goal improbably hauled Leicester back, before Callum Doyle was red carded late on.

Extra-time beckoned, until Pochettino’s subs won it.

Chelsea took the lead after 12 minutes and the move started with a powerful tackle from Moises Caicedo to win the ball on the edge of his own box. One pass released Palmer down the right, and he looked up to see Nicolas Jackson galloping clear and he crossed for the unmarked Cucurella to tap home.

After a strong Leicester opening the goal settled nerves around Stamford Bridge, but this has become a ground used to existing in a state of apprehension.

Robert Sanchez dithered and was nearly dispossessed by Patson Daka, with only good fortune sparing the goalkeeper’s embarrassment. Abdul Fatawu might have done better when he glanced a header wide at the back post from Daka’s cross.

Whatever frustration the winger felt, he moments later allowed it to get the better of him when he crashed through the back of Sterling inside the box for a penalty.

Sterling had scored only six goals in the league this season and took the ball out of the hands of usual taker Palmer, a move he would quickly regret. The penalty was hit low and centrally, and was saved by Jakub Stolarczyk.

He had the chance to make amends for his penalty blunder when sent clear by a fine through-ball from Caicedo but he placed a shot wide with only Stolarczyk to beat.

Sterling finally put things right in the final minutes of the first half. Receiving the ball in the box he ran it almost to the byline and crossed low from the left for the arriving Palmer to make it 2-0.

Chelsea were in full control, but five minutes after the break things altered in ludicrous circumstances.

Disasi received the ball back from a throw-in in the right-back position and was quickly put under pressure by Daka. Turning to play it to his goalkeeper, the Leicester forward nudged him at the moment of contact, and his pass span up and out of his control, sailing over Sanchez for a comical own-goal.

And the tie was level after 62 minutes.

Mavididi cushioned the ball wide on the left, turned and ran at Gusto. The defender backed off and with a swing of the right boot Mavididi sent a fine, arching shot round the dive of Sanchez and in.

It capped a stunning recovery from the visitors, but within minutes they were down to 10 men.

Jackson was tripped by defender Doyle and Andrew Madley initially gave a penalty and showed a yellow card. VAR showed the contact was outside the box, but as the furthest Leicester player back, Doyle saw red.

Madueke came off the bench and saw a first-time shot saved low to his right by Stolarczyk, before he skied one into the Matthew Harding Stand from 12 yards.

The last hope of avoiding extra-time looked to have slipped away. Then came Palmer’s flick, Chukwuemeka’s finish and Madueke’s crowning touch to send Chelsea to Wembley.

Paul Gilligan left Cheltenham full of pride after Buddy One’s brave effort when fourth in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle.

Although a 40-1 outsider in the hands of the trainer’s son Jack, the seven-year-old left his previous disappointing efforts in Grade One company in the past to be right in the mix on the run to the final flight.

Buddy One was eventually beaten just over eight lengths by the impressive winner Teahupoo and although unable to match the Cheltenham Festival heroics of Gilligan’s Bertie’s Dream in 2010, the stable’s latest standard-bearer lost little in defeat.

“It was a massive run and I’m over the moon with it,” said Gilligan.

“He could have done with the ground being a bit better, but that’s not making excuses and with that said he has run a super race.

“I knew he was better than his previous run in Grade Ones and he was fantastic, we have no complaints and it was a great day.

“Jack gave him a master ride and he came up the inner and just for one split second, one stride he had his nose in front. I suppose the others just picked up and quickened better on the ground.

“He was only beat eight lengths and that is nothing to be ashamed of, it was fantastic. He had a lot of very good horses behind and if I could have more horses like him it would be great.”

Buddy One followed his second to Iroko at last year’s Festival by going to Aintree and again running with real credit and Gilligan is toying with following a similar plan this time around, with a shot at the Jrl Group Liverpool Hurdle on Grand National day preferable to a visit to the Punchestown Festival.

“I’m half thinking he will go to Aintree because we have an extra week compared to last year and that will probably wrap up his season,” continued Gilligan.

“I’d rather not go to Punchestown and it would be great if we could get a result in Aintree with him as he ran well there last year.

“There’s no reason not to go there. I couldn’t be happier.”

Despite proving himself to be a top operator over timber, Gilligan is now looking ahead to a novice chase campaign next season with Buddy One, confident his jumping ability will help him take higher rank over the larger obstacles.

“He might not win a Grade One over hurdles but with his jumping, he never misses a beat and I think he is going to make a fantastic chaser, I just get that feeling with him,” continued the Athenry-based handler.

“He will probably start off his chasing career at Galway or something like that in October.

“He got home Saturday morning and he travelled home brilliantly. He got off the box with not a bother on him.”

Although there was no joy for any of Gilligan’s three runners at the Festival, he ended what he described as a “special week” by watching his son Danny return to the winner’s enclosure having steered Gordon Elliott’s Better Days Ahead to Martin Pipe glory.

Gilligan himself had a runner in the race in the hands of Buddy One’s pilot Jack, but once Sequestered’s challenge began to wane, he quickly turned to cheering Better Days Ahead home.

He said: “Even without getting a winner it was just a great week and then Danny rattled it off with his winner in the last. Cheltenham is one of the places you want to be.

“I was watching our own horse through the race and when our chance was gone of course we were then looking for Danny and we roared him home.

“He’s a super rider and Gordon has given him some great opportunities, he’s very good to him.

“It’s what dreams are made of and we have one picture from Friday where Jack went over to Danny after the last and the two of them gave one another a hug.

“That was a very proud moment for us and to have two sons riding in Cheltenham and one to have a winner and the other to be in the same race was a proud moment, a special week.”

Gordon Elliott is already plotting how Gerri Colombe can bridge the gap with Galopin Des Champs in next year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The eight-year-old made Willie Mullins’ dual blue riband hero pull out all the stops at this season’s Festival, and Elliott feels there is still more to come from his charge.

He told Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday: “I’d say Gerri Colombe was definitely a career best. We were delighted with Gerri and the winner is very, very special.

“The loose horse has done us absolutely no favours – we’d have never won on the day, but we might have been a little bit closer.

“I think with another summer out at grass, he’s going to be even better. He probably jumped his best throughout the race on Friday but I still think he needs to learn to come down and get from A to B a little bit quicker.

“If you look at Galopin Des Champs, he’s a lot quicker through the air than we are, but that’s getting better all the time.

“Whether we run him again this year or not, I’m not sure. If I do, it’ll likely be Punchestown, Aintree will probably come a bit soon. But if not, it’ll be all systems go again for the Gold Cup next year.”

Elliott enjoyed Grade One glory with Teahupoo in the Stayers’ Hurdle and he is set to target a repeat success in that contest next term.

The seven-year-old had just one previous outing this season, when winning the Hatton’s Grace at Fairyhouse, and another light schedule is on the cards.

“He suits the race,” said the Cullentra House handler. “He’s a laid-back type of horse, he doesn’t take too much energy out of himself.

“So, we’ll probably look at going back to Punchestown, all being well, and then maybe going the same path again next year, with just two or three runs in the season again.

“He’s probably not the biggest or most robust horse in the world, so maybe he doesn’t need a whole lot of racing, but he’s very honest and we’re very lucky to have him.

“His form suggests he runs best with a nice break between runs, so we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing – he’s done us proud so far.”

Irish Point was rerouted from the Stayers’ Hurdle to the Champion Hurdle following the defection of Constitution Hill and performed admirably when chasing home State Man.

He is now in line for a step back up in trip to two and a half miles for the William Hill Aintree Hurdle, where he could clash with the Henry de Bromhead-trained Bob Olinger, who carries the same Robcour colours.

Elliott said: “Irish Point is probably more of a stayer than a two-miler but just the way the race was working out, we had to roll the dice.

“I’d love to go to Aintree. They are in different camps – Henry can worry about his horse and I will worry about mine.”

Parallels can be drawn between Willie Mullins and Sir Alex Ferguson in the aftermath of a memorable Cheltenham Festival for both.

Ferguson is no stranger to standing at the helm of one of the most successful operations in sport and was the manager who led Manchester United’s dominance in English football for 20 years.

His involvement in racing began on the Flat and he still has an involvement in that code, with Spirit Dancer a notable recent success having won the Bahrain International Trophy and the Neom Turf Cup over the winter.

Ferguson owns Spirit Dancer alongside Fred Done and Ged Mason, the latter of whom joins John Hales in making up the Ferguson-Mason-Hales trio that own both Protektorat and Monmiral.

Monmiral landed the Pertemps at 25-1 and Protektorat was a brilliant four-length winner of the Ryanair Chase, providing Ferguson with his first and then his second Cheltenham Festival winner in quick succession.

While Ferguson’s trainers, Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton, trained four winners and a single winner respectively, it was Willie Mullins who dominated the meeting with nine winners, six seconds and six thirds.

Among those winners was his 100th Cheltenham Festival victory, a landmark achievement that makes him the most successful trainer in the history of the fixture – a figure akin to the Ferguson of the racing world.

“What Willie Mullins is doing is fantastic, brilliant,” Ferguson said of the Closutton trainer.

“You can only admire the man.”

Ruby Walsh, former stable jockey to Mullins, identified the similarities between the role of football manager and trainer, saying: “It’s awesome, an incredible achievement as a manager, because that what he is, a sporting manager.

“He is like the CEO, his wife is the CFO, his son is the managing director and he’s doing it all.

“He’s just an incredible manager, that’s what he is and the sport is lucky to have him.

“If he was in any other sport they wouldn’t be telling him he was too dominant.

“He’s just an incredible manager, that’s what he is and the sport is lucky to have him.”

A fundraising lunch in aid of Motor Neurone Disease is taking place at Newbury racecourse on March 22, organised by Triumph Hurdle-winning jockey Steve Jobar and his committee.

Jobar was diagnosed with MND himself in April 2022, when he was shocked to discover there was no cure or effective treatment for his illness.

During his career in the saddle, Jobar rode over 130 winners, which included the 1980 Triumph Hurdle on Heighlin.

His former weighing-room colleague John Francome and trainer Richard Phillips will be on hand at the lunch conducting the auction of a host of attractive prizes.

All 45 tables have been sold and a raffle will be held, where the first prize is a new car or £13,000.

An online auction with 75 items is also taking place, with options to bid on sports tickets, stable visits and sporting memorabilia.

All monies raised will go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the event is on course to raise over £100,000, with half going into research into finding a cure for MND and the other half going to the local branch which has supported and offered pastoral care to Jobar and his wife, Dottie.

The items van be viewed at www.stevejobarsupportsmnd.com.

Jamie Snowden is eyeing a shot at the Coral Scottish Grand National with Git Maker after his gallant second at the Cheltenham Festival.

The eight-year-old has proven a stout stayer since upped to three miles and was tasked with the challenge of the Kim Muir at Prestbury Park, where he was partnered by top amateur Will Biddick.

He led three out, but had no answer in the home straight once passed by Gavin Cromwell’s Inothewayurthinkin who proved his class by carrying top-weight to a wide-margin victory.

However, Snowden is taking plenty of positives from the performance – especially how far the front two pulled clear of the remaining finishers – and feels his charge could now be ready for a challenge such as the Ayr marathon on April 20.

“I think he bumped into a graded horse in a handicap,” said Snowden.

“The two of them were 20 lengths clear of the third horse as well, so it was a fair performance. You hope the handicapper doesn’t crucify him for it, but he could now be a nice one for the Scottish National maybe.

“He’s won six of his 11 starts and knows how to win, he’s a tough and hardy sort who stays well. He’s probably ready for a test like that (Scottish National), but we’ll let him get over the Kim Muir, it was a fairly hard race and we’ll have to see how he is and go from there.

“But I suppose the Scottish Grand National could be something to look forward to now.”

Ollie Lawrence finished Saturday’s agonising defeat by France alongside boyhood idol Manu Tuilagi in what was a symbolic moment for England’s midfield.

Lawrence produced a coming-of-age performance in the 33-31 defeat at Groupama Stadium, crossing either side of half-time in an impressive display of power running that was a continuation of his stellar form for Bath.

It was evidence that the 24-year-old centre is ready to provide the ball-carrying might that has been Tuilagi’s calling card since making his debut in 2011.

England have longed to find a defence-smashing alternative to Tuilagi during his regular spells out through injury and in Lyon they finally witnessed a passing of the baton, with the 32-year-old veteran almost certainly playing his final Test before joining a French club next season.

Eddie Jones drew a comparison between the punch they offer in attack in 2021 and, after the similarities were made clear in a riveting climax to the Guinness Six Nations that saw Tuilagi step off the bench for the final 21 minutes, Lawrence paid tribute to a unique team-mate.

“Manu’s been class. You ask anyone in the squad, he’s one of the best people around,” Lawrence said.

“He was my hero growing up, he was someone I looked up to and tried to emulate my game around.

“The way he was playing at a young age in an England shirt was amazing. To keep going playing at this level is testament to him really.

“To have the pleasure to take the field with him on the amount of occasions I have now is special and a memory I will look back on.

“Who knows what is going to happen in the future, but it has been a pleasure playing with Manu. He’s a great bloke on and off the field.”

Lawrence missed the opening two rounds with a hip injury and the current Gallagher Premiership player of the season has grown in influence since making his comeback in a dispiriting defeat by Scotland.

Now 24 caps into his international career, he is proving that his marauding club form translates to the highest level.

“Test rugby is very different to Premiership rugby in a lot of aspects. You get fewer opportunities and have to be more decisive with them. That was one thing I was focussed on this Six Nations,” he said.

“Coming out of the injury, I didn’t want to use that as an excuse, I just wanted to get in there and offer my bit to the team.

“I’ve managed to progress my game to a level where I am confident I can keep pushing to see where I can take it.”

England finished only third in the table but having inflicted Ireland’s solitary defeat and dazzled against France, who triumphed through a final-minute Thomas Ramos penalty, clear progress was made.

“It was a massive step forward for us as a team. Throughout this tournament we’ve progressed nicely. It was unfortunate that we didn’t get over the line,” Lawrence said.

“We fell short and that’s definitely something we’ll keep working on, but it’s really exciting being part of this group. We don’t know where we can take it as a team and that’s the exciting part.”

Crambo is likely to seek redemption in the Jrl Group Liverpool Hurdle after his disappointing display in the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The seven-year-old headed to Festival as Britain’s leading hope in the day three feature, having downed Paisley Park for Grade One honours prior to Christmas in the Long Walk Hurdle.

He was sent off at 7-1 in the hands of Jonathan Burke and having not hurdled at his most fluent as the race began to develop, trailed home some 15 lengths adrift of race winner Teahupoo in ninth.

Full of confidence prior to the race, O’Brien has been left scratching his head after the event and is now poised to give Crambo all the necessary post-race assessments before he attempts to get back on track on Merseyside on Grand National Day.

O’Brien said: “We had no excuses really and Johnny said he felt great for the first half of the race and then just down the back for the second time he just felt like he just came back underneath him a little bit.

“We can’t really find out why, so we will run some tests on him and see where we are. I was delighted with him going into the race, so it will be a bit of a headscratcher, but we’ll keep trying.

“He’ll go to Aintree.”