"This year we were hoping he'd prove good enough to be a Cheltenham Gold Cup horse (although the festival was cancelled), with the idea that, if he came out of the race OK, we would then run him in the National.

"In retrospect he had a bit to find with the likes of First Gold but now we have a situation where he's giving away weight all round in the most competitive race in the calendar.

"I go along to a certain degree that National winners tend to have a bit of class, as Party Politics certainly did, but Earth Summit was just a good, honest staying handicapper who loved the mud up to his eyeballs.

'Jumps for fun'

"He was well-weighted and I can't help but worry that there's a similarly well-treated rival lurking low down in the handicap who we might struggle against."

Since day one proficient jumping has been Beau's hallmark and Llewellyn added: "He's jumped soundly all along and as long as he takes to the fences we should be OK.

"The fences have been given a different shape this year and have a more gradual slope which makes them more inviting. I can't see that being a problem as this horse jumps for fun.

"I'm not sure about the tactics because I don't think there's any set route I favour. Mostly I've tended to stick to the inner, but when I won on Earth Summit I took him round the outside."

The Wantage-based jockey believes Beau is yet to show his true prowess this season, owing to the fact that he came back later into training than usual.