A minor concern gnaws at the back of Nigel Twiston-Davies' mind as he gears Earth Summit towards an attempted repeat of last year's Grand National victory - the Aintree fences.
It might seem a bizarre misgiving about a horse who has already negotiated the 30 obstacles of the world's most famous steeplechase, as Earth Summit did in April when ploughing through hock-deep mud to beat Suny Bay by 11 lengths.
But the Stow-On-The-World trainer is all too aware of the mental impression that ordeal may have left on the blinkered bay, leaving Twiston-Davies wondering whether he will want to go through it all again.
Earth Summit begins his 199899 campaign by returning to the scene of his greatest triumph in the Tote Becher Chaseat Aintree on Saturday, a race in which he is likely to find Bobbyjo, the winner of this year's Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse, in opposition.
As he does so, Twiston-Davies' fingers will be crossed that the 10-year-old, who became the only horse to register wins in the Scottish, Welsh and English Grand Nationals with his Aintree success, does not suffer a delayed adverse reaction to his National experience.
"I have a slight worry about him because he is very cute and when he sees the fences again this time, he might be a bit apprehensive," he admitted yesterday.
"In an ideal world, you would run him over normal fences to give him a bit of confidence, but he is not the sort of horse who will go and win a Hennessy," he added.
"There are very few races for good horses these days.
"He is as fit as he can be and is ready to run. He would be the one horse who wouldn't benefit from the race as much as the others."
Davies will glad to know that the Grand National has shored up its position as the richest National Hunt race in the world, with next year's contest offering a guaranteed minimum value of £420,000.
The purse represents an increase of over £50,000 on last year's total prize money pool of £368,050, of which over £160,000 went to last season's winning owners, the Summit Partnership, which includes Aintree press officer Nigel Payne.
Paul Nicholls' yard provides three of the 16 entries for the Becher Chase, but the west country trainer will probably only have one runner. His trio of Ottowa, Belmont King and Court Melody give him a range of options depending on ground conditions at the weekend.
"I only put the three in there in case the ground changes," Nicholls said.
"If the ground stays on the soft side, which it is now, Ottowa will run and the other two are in there if it dried up."
Olivier Peslier will partner the German-based Caitano in the Japan Cup on November 29th. The jockey will also ride the four-year-old in next month's International Vase at Sha-Tin racecourse in Hong Kong if all goes well in Tokyo.
