Kitty's Light will try and become the first horse in 21 years to win two editions of Sandown's bet365 Gold Cup.
Trained by Christian Williams, the chaser is 4-1 clear favourite for a marathon which finalises the jumps campaign on Saturday. It comes two weeks on from his gallant Grand National effort, where he was one of five horses to take the final fence together. Last year at the Esher circuit, Kitty's Light added its feature race to Scotland's version of Aintree's highlight, just seven days apart.
Williams' stable star could have been chasing a bet365 Gold Cup hat-trick had he not been badly hampered near the finish three years ago.
By his racing achievements, Kitty's Light has given the trainer and family a timely boost, as his six-year-old daughter Betsy is bravely battling leukaemia.
"Kitty's Light has been a great horse for all of us," his regular jockey Jack Tudor, 21, said, assisting the bid to emulate 2001 and 2003 hero Ad Hoc. "He continues to lift the spirits of the Williams family during a difficult time. It was a massive run in the Grand National, probably a personal best and we are really happy with the way he has come out of it.
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Jockey Jack Tudor (left) and trainer Christian Williams with the Scottish National trophy (PA)"The double hasn't been done for a long time, so it would be lovely if he could win again."
Amid a forecast low of 1C tonight and 48 amber flood alerts from the Environment Agency across England, Sandown is encountering a dry spell.
Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper said around 10mm of water per day will be applied to the turf this week, with no significant rain since March 28 and the ground currently good.
"We will have to keep going with the watering, there's no doubt about it," he added.
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