Lift Me Up could prove to be popular Haydock chart-topper

Lift Me Up – owned by Geri Halliwell-Horner and husband Christian – is set to add a bit of spice to proceedings at Haydock on Saturday.

Trained by Maxine Filby, the 10-year-old, who is named after Geri’s number one hit of the same name, has proven a chart topper at both Newbury in 2023 and then Warwick a little over 12 months ago, which set up a long-held ambition of the former Spice Girl and the ex-Red Bull Formula One supremo having a runner at National Hunt’s showpiece meeting.

A strong showing in the Walrus Open Hunters’ Chase could reward the enthusiastic owners with a return visit to Prestbury Park, and Filby said: “I’m not sure if Geri and Christian will be there yet, but they’ll be watching and love it.

“They are very much a big part of it and love their horses as much as we do and I discuss every move with them. It’s a great thing to be a part of and a brilliant opportunity.

“Lift Me Up is in good form, I don’t think the ground will be his preferred ground, but we just want to get a run into him before Cheltenham really. I think I probably left it a bit long last year between Warwick and Cheltenham and this slots in nicely and we will see how we get on.

“It’s nice to have a Saturday runner and he’s just a lovely horse that we can go to races like this with, it’s exciting.”

Although a former national mountain biking champion and partner of Lewis Hamilton’s former right-hand man at Mercedes, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, it is Filby’s association with the Horners which thrust her firmly into the spotlight last season prior to Lift Me Up’s Cheltenham appearance.

However, for the lifelong racing fanatic who has always had sporting competition in the blood, she is comfortable with the pressure which comes with fine-tuning the former motorsport chief and his pop star wife’s prime equine assets, with the link-up highlighting the best of grassroots racing and the point-to-point scene.

Filby added: “The attention kind of comes with the territory and I knew what I was getting myself in for. It’s good for racing and it raises the profile of hunter chases and point-to-points.

“It does put a bit of added pressure on, but I just try to get on with my job and make sure he’s in the best possible form he can be and get things right. If it goes our way then that’s great and if it doesn’t we learn from it and go again another day.

“Last season was quite a testing season and challenging at times as we had quite a few go wrong and we have quite a few young ones we’re gradually bringing back to work. It’s a challenge, but that’s racing and I love it.”