Steven Pateman rides Mazzacano, who he rates the best horse he has ridden, in Thursday's Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool against the second best horse he has ridden, Some Are Bent.Pateman, 26, rode the Robert Smerdon-trained Some Are Bent for the first time on Tuesday when he carried 71kg to win the Brierly Steeple (3450m) but is happy to stay with Mazzacano in the 5500m marathon."Mazzacano in my opinion is the better horse," Pateman said."That's just my opinion but Some Are Bent won't

Steven Pateman rides Mazzacano, who he rates the best horse he has ridden, in Thursday's Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool against the second best horse he has ridden, Some Are Bent.

Pateman, 26, rode the Robert Smerdon-trained Some Are Bent for the first time on Tuesday when he carried 71kg to win the Brierly Steeple (3450m) but is happy to stay with Mazzacano in the 5500m marathon.

"Mazzacano in my opinion is the better horse," Pateman said.

"That's just my opinion but Some Are Bent won't be easy to beat as he doesn't get penalised for winning the Brierly, but I still wouldn't swap Mazzacano for any others."

The Robbie Laing-trained Mazzacano carried 70kg, as did Some Are Bent, when he defeated Smerdon's charge by 2-1/4 lengths in a 3300m Sandown Steeple last month.

The winner of eight of his 10 jumps races including two Australian Steeples and a Crisp Steeple, Mazzacano meets Some Are Bent, the topweight with 70kg, a kilogram better on Thursday as he drops to 69kg.

Pateman said he didn't realise what a champion Mazzacano was until he won on him at Sandown.

"I've ridden a lot of good horses before and I knew he was a good horse but until you ride them ... you appreciate them even more," he said.

"He was going up the hill at Sandown (and I was) thinking he wasn't travelling so I slapped him on the neck and I never felt a horse just change. He felt like he was on clouds going over the second last and the last. He's a good horse."

Brad McLean was cleared to ride Some Are Bent in the Annual after a urine sample taken from him on Tuesday morning tested negative.

McLean was stood down from riding Some Are Bent in the Brierly and was replaced on the dual champion Jumper of the Year by Pateman.

Some Are Bent has to set a modern day weight-carrying record in the Annual as in the past 50 years no horse has carried more than the 68.5kg Planet Hollywood won with in 1999.

Smerdon said if Some Are Bent was his aggressive self after his hard-fought Brierly win he'd saddle him up for the Annual even though he felt the distance was a query.

"I never thought he was a staying horse. I never thought he would win a (Grand) National (Hurdle) but he's a bit better now as once he wouldn't sit off those two horses like he did on Tuesday," Smerdon said.

"He'd just charge into the bridle.

"It's a matter of whether he steadies enough but he'll have Mazzacano menacing him (in the Grand Annual) which is another scenario altogether."

Also engaged are last year's second, third and fourth placegetters respectively in dual Brierly and 2010 Von Doussa winner Al Garhood, 2010 Great Eastern winner It's A Dud and 2009 Great Eastern winner Pentacolo.