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Evan Williams says Secret Reprieve is only “50-50” to line up in the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow on December 27.
Winner of the race in January 2021, having previously taken the trial at the same venue a month earlier, he was not seen again until finishing a distant fifth to Iwilldoit in last season's renewal.
The eight-year-old was subsequently pulled up in the Grand National Trial at Haydock in February and his Llancarfan handler feels the exertions of the three-and three-quarter-mile test may have left their mark.
Though he appeared to find plenty of his former zest when runner-up to Farinet in the Welsh National Trial earlier this month, Evan Williams says the Flemensfirth gelding is not guaranteed to line up in the big race itself, for which he is a general 14-1 chance.
Williams said: "I wouldn't say he is a definite starter in the Welsh National. I'm half-temped to miss the Welsh National this year and run him over shorter.
"We will see what the race is like nearer the time, but he is far from a certain starter, only because he has run in two Welsh Nationals and I think it has left its toll on him.
"The run the other day was the first signs that he is on his way back, so I don't want to run him in a Welsh National again for the sake of it.
"They don't always come back from running in a race like that and if you are honest, our horse hasn't. That was the first decent race this horse has run since and I'm very, very wary of going there now. I'm very wary. I'd like to run somewhere in January in a less-deep race."
Secret Reprieve is as short as 33-1 with Coral for the Grand National and Williams harbours hopes that the lightly-raced chaser will find enough improvement to take his place at Aintree – even if not this season.
"I still cling on to hope that he might be a Grand National horse, but he'd have to go up 10lb," said Williams
"So, I don't know, but I wouldn't want to say he's definitely a starter in the Welsh National.
"If I look at the race and see that we have definitely got to take a chance, then we will take a chance, but I would only say he is 50-50 and there is every chance we will look elsewhere."
