Best Mate begins comeback trail

Owner Jim Lewis with Best Mate and trainer Henrietta Knight

Triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate is ready for a return to action.

The horse, who missed his bid for a fourth title when breaking a blood vessel in March, returns to the track at Exeter on 1 November.

Trainer Henrietta Knight has admitted he may not triumph in a contest which is a warm-up for a subsequent showdown with current champion Kicking King.

"I don't expect him to win at Exeter because of the distance of that race but it would be wonderful if he did."

In Best Mate's absence, Kicking King won the Gold Cup by five lengths.

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Best Mate is due to run in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter before meeting Kicking King in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on 19 November.

"I don't like making predictions but he is still a very good horse and still full of enthusiasm," Knight said of her stable star.

"I really can't fault Kicking King. He is a super horse and probably the best around. It's going to be a very interesting race."

The £150,000 race is the highlight on day one of a new 'North West Masters' fixture on 19 and 20 November.

The two-day meeting was created from a partnership between Haydock and Aintree.

Sunday racing at Liverpool will include two races over the Grand National fences - the Becher Chase and the Grand Sefton Chase, which are being staged on the same day for the first time.

The Haydock feature race is the first of a new three-contest challenge called the Betfair Million, which also includes the King George VI Chase and Gold Cup, and offers a £1m jackpot if any horse can complete the treble.

If he wins the first one and comes home sound, I don't think there's a horse about that could beat him Best Mate's owner Jim Lewis

Knight said she was hopeful Best Mate would not suffer a repeat of the broken blood vessel.

"We don't spend every morning holding our breath. You just hope it doesn't resurface and a lot of horses do it once and then never again," she said.

"There's no cure for it. Just the old-fashioned remedy of lots of fresh air and hoping Mother Nature does her thing."

Owner Jim Lewis was more bullish after been given a free £5,000 charity bet at odds of 33-1 on Best Mare doing the treble.

"I wouldn't give you 33-1 about Best Mate winning all three," he smiled.

"If he wins the first one and comes home sound, I don't think there's a horse about that could beat him."

Lewis is searching for a regular jockey for the horse after the retirement of Jim Culloty.

Kicking King makes his seasonal return in the Daily Star Chase at Punchestown on 20 October.