Gesskille will bid to go one better than last year when he lines up in the BoyleSports Grand Sefton Handicap Chase at Aintree on Saturday.

There were areas of water on the Grand National track, but the team in Liverpool worked hard to make the course raceable and the race survived a Friday morning inspection.

Gesskille, trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, was second by just a nose last season and has run twice more around the Grand National fences since – including when second in the Becher next time out.

He is therefore fairly well established around the track and is also proven in the testing conditions likely at Aintree, with his seasonal debut taking place on similar ground when he won a Listed race at Auteuil in September.

“He’s in flying form, he looks fantastic,” said Greenall.

“We’ve kept him fresh since Auteuil, he’s probably never had such testing ground but hopefully he’ll cope with it.

“I wouldn’t say he’d particularly want or need ground this heavy, but he should be able to get through it all right.”

Stuart Coltherd’s Cooper’s Cross took a good handicap prize last season when landing the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster and was then an unfortunate faller when making his debut over the fences in the Topham in April.

He bounced back to finish second behind Kitty’s Light in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr in April, proving his stamina over four miles in a fine performance.

The Grand National is the ultimate aim for the term and although the Sefton is a stepping stone en-route, it is also a target in itself for co-owner Jimmy Fyffe – who won the race with Endless Power in 2008.

“Cooper’s Cross will be aimed at the Grand National if we can get him up to a rating to get into the race, but the Grand Sefton has been his early-season target from day one. I think he has got a great chance at the weekend,” he said.

“I like the Grand Sefton and I won it in 2008 with Endless Power. I try to aim horses at the race every year.

“He was going great in the Topham. Ryan (Mania), who was riding him, said he basically got brought down. He felt like he had loads of horse underneath him and we were gutted with that.

“We went for the Scottish National over four miles after the Topham and he ran a great race in that up at Ayr. We actually thought he was going to win it jumping the second last coming on the wide outside.

“He is a good jumper, and we know he gets those long distances, so he is an ideal horse to go for the Grand National. If we get him up to the ideal rating, then he will definitely go there.

“He has been schooling well and he will like the ground at Aintree, so we are quite hopeful for this weekend. He is a nice horse and we are quite excited about him this season.”