Jack Kennedy returned to riding out at Gordon Elliott’s Cullentra House yard on Wednesday, but it is still unknown whether he will be fit for action at Aintree’s Grand National Festival.
The 23-year-old suffered a broken leg in a fall at Naas in January and has since missed key mounts at both the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham Festival.
Having missed out on a return at Prestbury Park last month, Kennedy rode two lots on Wednesday, but will still need to pass the racecourse doctor if he is to appear back on a racecourse in Liverpool – where the Elliott number one is likely to partner the likes of Cheltenham Gold Cup third Conflated in the Aintree Bowl and Delta Work in the Randox Grand National.
“It was my first day riding out this morning and I rode two lots,” said Kennedy at a press event ahead of Aintree.
Jack Kennedy, here aboard Delta Work, who would be his likely mount in the Randox Grand National (PA)
“I’m getting there but the first day is always the hardest. I was happy enough but the first is always the hardest, so it should be getting easier from here on in hopefully.
“I’m just going to see how the riding out goes and ideally I would love to be riding in Aintree, but I won’t know until closer to the time.
“I’ve got eight or nine days, I’ve been cleared to ride out but I would need to be cleared to race ride, so fingers crossed it keeps going well.
“I still need to build it up and I’m doing plenty of physio and things, but hopefully once it keeps progressing the way it has been it shouldn’t be too much longer.”
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Lucinda Russell could not be happier with Randox Grand National favourite Corach Rambler as the big day draws ever nearer.
The nine-year-old became just the fourth horse in history to win the Ultima Handicap at the Cheltenham Festival more than once, and he will head to Aintree officially 10lb ‘well-in’.
Russell stated at the beginning of the season this campaign revolved around two races and with the first box ticked, she is building him up for the second assignment with the help of partner and assistant, former champion jockey Peter Scudamore.
“The prep is going really well. He ran at Cheltenham in the middle of March and since then it was a matter of letting him recover,” said Russell.
Peter Scudamore (left) and Lucinda Russell, with Corach Rambler (Andrew Milligan/PA)
“That was the first thing and then since it has been sort of winding him up again to Aintree.
“He is a very straightforward horse to deal with in one way, but in another way, Scu rides him every day so I don’t have total control over what work he does.
“But he is just coming to himself, he looks very fit and I am very pleased with his weight and stuff and it is just a case of getting him in the right mind space now.”
Russell, of course, has already entered the history books by providing Scotland with just its second win in the great race when One For Arthur galloped to success in 2017.
He died recently at the age of 14 after suffering colic, and the poignancy of that is not lost on the Kinross-based trainer.
Corach Rambler inhabits the same box One For Arthur used to (Andrew Milligan/PA)
“Yes, I mean it is poignant, I always say that the wins are not just for the horse’s own glory, but it is for everyone else around them. It would be lovely,” she said.
“I know that the Two Golf Widows who owned One For Arthur, they are very excited again about us having a runner in the National.
“It is just lovely, the support that we have from everyone. Arthur was funny, he really did become family and his owners are very good friends of ours now.
“Corach already is family because Scu rides him all the time, but it is nice and it means so much to us.”
Famously some of the biggest names in racing have never won the Grand National and Russell has not even dared to think about winning it twice.
Lucinda Russell holding the Ultima trophy, which Corach Rambler won for a second time last month (Andrew Milligan/PA)
She said: “Gosh, I haven’t really thought about it.
“I always said it wouldn’t change my life (winning the National) but it did change my life to start with.
“Crikey, can it change my life again? I don’t know.
“But it is just nice because I feel that I am the figurehead but actually it is the people who sort of do it all. There is a lot of people behind so it is not really just for me, it is for everyone else.”
Russell is more than doing her bit to keep racing in Scotland on the map, which given that means competing against the likes of Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls, Gordon Elliott and Nicky Henderson on a regular basis is no mean feat.
“For this race, there is a lot of Irish horses in it. We have to do it all the time,” said Russell.
Lucinda Russell walks Corach Rambler through her yard (Andrew Milligan/PA)
“When you get to the top level you are competing against top-level horses, where they get trained doesn’t make much of a difference to me.
“It is exciting taking them on but it is not overwhelming.
“Arthur really put us on the map when he won, and I think that got the interest in racing from people (in Scotland) who weren’t normally interested in the racing.
“I think that if Corach was to win it this year, it would certainly increase the attention we are getting in Scottish racing.”
One constant at the yard since One For Arthur’s success has been jockey Derek Fox, and he will once again take the reins with Russell full pf praise for his main attributes.
Derek Fox celebrates after winning the Ultima for a second time on Corach Rambler (Mike Egerton/PA)
“He is just a fantastic person. He works here in the yard, he is in here every day,” she said.
“He knows the horses inside out. He is a tremendous horseman. He really gets the horses.
“He is very strong, very fit and he has got a racing brain that during the race he doesn’t panic. I think for races like the National and races at the top level you have to have someone who doesn’t see the red mist and Derek is supremely calm about things. It is great”.
Russell sadly lost her father this year, a main driving force behind her early days as a trainer.
“I always say about dad that I think everything we do is a tribute to him,” she said.
“When he was alive it was a tribute to him.
“He has passed away now but I think he would be proud of what we do and of course there is a lot of emotion to it. Really just the emotion of losing dad is overwhelming but the horses keep me pretty well grounded about things.”
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Fakir D’oudairies, Banbridge and Home By The Lee are all set to represent Joseph O’Brien at next week’s Grand National meeting at Aintree.
The JP McManus-owned Fakir D’oudairies will head to Merseyside fresh for his bid for a third successive victory in the Grade One Marsh Chase, having sidestepped last month’s Cheltenham Festival.
His stablemate Banbridge also missed the showpiece meeting in the Cotswolds after O’Brien took him out of the Turners’ Novices’ Chase due to the rain-softened ground at Prestbury Park.
That freshness could prove key as both are readied for another trip across the Irish Sea.
“Fakir has been good in Aintree the last few years. It looks like it will be a very good race this year, as you’d expect, but he’ll go there with a live chance again,” said O’Brien.
“We’ve learned that Banbridge is at his best on a sounder surface and it was very testing on the day at Cheltenham.
“We also have him entered at Fairyhouse, but I think Aintree is more likely to get better ground.”
Home By The Lee and JJ Slevin after winning at Leopardstown (Niall Carson/PA)
Home By The Lee was in action at Cheltenham, lining up with strong claims in the Stayers’ Hurdle after previous wins this season at Navan and Leopardstown.
The eight-year-old passed the post in fifth after a jumping error cost him vital ground and momentum and he could renew rivalries with a few of those who finished ahead of him in the Grade One Liverpool Hurdle on Grand National day.
O’Brien added: “Home By The Lee made a very bad mistake in Cheltenham and was probably lucky not to fall or pull a muscle, but he’s fine after the race and he potentially will go to Aintree.”
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Trainer Nicky Henderson would love to see Mister Coffey fill the only significant gap on his CV with victory in the Randox Grand National at Aintree.
Henderson saddled his first runner in the race 44 years ago when Zongalero was the runner-up in 1979 and has hit the crossbar again since as The Tsarevitch also came home second in 1987.
Whilst practically every other major National Hunt race has been claimed by the yard throughout Henderson’s career, the Grand National has remained elusive as the years have passed.
Asked what winning the race would mean after decades of trying, Henderson said: “Well I’m not going to suddenly leap up and say ‘that’s it’ and retire! But on the other hand it would complete the journey, if you like.
“It’s been a long haul and I haven’t finished yet. But that is the one obvious race I’d love to win – doesn’t everyone? I’m sure anyone who’s won the race once, twice, wants to go on and win it again because it’s very special. We’ve been knocking on the door a few times.
Mister Coffey (right) during the 2021 Ladbrokes Winter Carnival Gallops morning at Newbury racecourse (Adam Davy/PA)
“I love the place. The race is very special, it’s completely different to Cheltenham. Luckily we’ve been fortunate enough to have some of the best horses around and therefore you’re a player at Cheltenham at the highest level and that’s where it really matters, but this race is unique.
“It’s a completely different game. It would be a pity not to find one someday but the clock is ticking!”
Mister Coffey has yet to win a chase but was most recently seen finishing third in last month’s National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, with the gelding also in possession of some National-track experience having contested the Topham at the Aintree meeting last season.
“We ran him in the Topham last year and he enjoyed jumping round there then. He’s in good form and ran a very good race at Cheltenham,” said Henderson.
“He’s been placed in everything you can throw at him. He can’t win anything but that’s a bit like me in the National!
“He’s perfectly capable of it and it’s nice to be going in there with a horse that realistically does have a chance. It would be a surprise to all if I won it!”
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Shishkin will step up to three miles in the Aintree Bowl, with trainer Nicky Henderson rating the April 13 contest as the potential “race of the year”.
The nine-year-old was a dominant force in the two-mile chase division until he was pulled up in the 2022 Champion Chase and after struggling on his return in the Tingle Creek, Henderson successfully stepped him up to two miles and five furlongs for an impressive 16-length victory in the Ascot Chase.
Shishkin was duly sent off the evens favourite for the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham but he was slow to stride and a bad mistake three fences from home cost him valuable momentum, with the gelding eventually staying on to finish a two-and-three-quarter-length second to Envoi Allen.
Shishkin was a wide-margin winner at Ascot in February (Steven Paston/PA)
Henderson will now roll the dice at a longer distance on Merseyside, where possible rivals include Bravemansgame, Conflated and Protektorat, the respective second, third and fifth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, as well as the 2021 Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard.
The Seven Barrows trainer said: “The Bowl is going to be some race because everyone’s threatening to run. It won’t be a re-run of the Gold Cup because I can’t see the Gold Cup winner coming (Galopin Des Champs), but I can see the rest of them coming. So he’s going to have join in with them. It could easily be the best race of the year.
“Ascot suggested that two-miles-five-furlongs wasn’t a problem, so you’re going three extra furlongs on an easier track. So it shouldn’t technically be a problem.
“If this works then that will definitely tell us where we go next year. You’d be thinking about the King George or even the Betfair Chase to start with. And if the King George goes well then obviously you’ve got to think about the Gold Cup. But again, everything has to go right.”
Nicky Henderson with Aintree hopeful Shishkin (David Davies/PA)
Henderson admitted he and his team have needed to address a couple of issues since Cheltenham, after Shishkin hung left throughout the race.
He added: “We haven’t found issues that we haven’t corrected and I’m hopeful he won’t do all that again. He shouldn’t. We haven’t done anything dramatic, it was more physio, chiropractors – hopefully we’ve helped him.
“He’s a horse that has in the past had a few issues. We had those issues and we got him right and it all came together at Ascot and then we slightly fluffed our lines at Cheltenham, which was sad.
“But he still finished a remarkably good second, having got it all wrong. So if we have ironed that out then we’ve got every right to think we must have a chance at Aintree.”
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Nicky Henderson expects to make a decision on whether Constitution Hill is sent over fences next season around 10 days after his run in the William Hill Aintree Hurdle.
The six-year-old sealed his superstar status with his cosy nine-length verdict in the Champion Hurdle, but a chase career has been mooted for some time, with the possibility of him aiming to emulate the great mare Dawn Run, the only horse complete the Champion Hurdle-Gold Cup double.
A post-Aintree schooling session under Nico de Boinville is planned for Constitution Hill, after which Henderson believes he will know in which direction they will be heading.
“It’s possible Aintree could be his last run over hurdles. Everything is possible,” he said.
Constitution Hill relaxing at Seven Barrows (David Davies/PA)
“There are more opportunities over fences to start with, which would lead to the Arkle and the Champion Chase or maybe even the Gold Cup if he stays. A real superstar is a horse that can adapt to everything.
“It’ll all happen after Aintree. Michael (Buckley, owner) was down here the other day and we said what we would probably try to do is, about 10 days after Aintree, if the ground hasn’t dried up too quickly, we’ll school him over fences here (at Seven Barrows) and that’ll give us an idea.
“Then we have the whole summer to sit down and discuss, but if we’ve had one look at him schooling over fences Nico will know, and Michael and I will know, pretty well what are the options then.
“His hurdling and his way of crossing a hurdle is very, very effective but you can’t do that over fences.
“He’s got to learn to jump rather than hurdle. It could be that he’s got totally the wrong technique, I don’t know, but I’d be very surprised. He’s such an intelligent horse that I think he’ll soon realise, probably by actually just rubbing a fence, that he’ll say ‘oh wow, somebody’s raised the bar and now we’ll do something about it’.
“It’ll probably take him one mistake to work it out and a lot of sensible horses will work it out.
“The road has got to be smooth the whole way. Luckily this year, touch wood and we’ve still got two weeks to go, he’s not had any issues and it would be very disappointing for everyone if he couldn’t run (at Aintree).”
Constitution Hill leads his stablemates through the cooling stream (David Davies/PA)
Usually there are only three weeks between Cheltenham and Aintree, but this year’s calendar gives an extra week.
“We have the advantage this year of the four-week gap between the two (Cheltenham and Aintree) when it’s normally three. This time last year there was a lot of talk about him running again (after Cheltenham), but in my mind there was no chance of him running again and he didn’t after the Supreme,” said Henderson.
“He was only a young horse and it took a lot out of him to be honest. He didn’t come out of Cheltenham at all well last year and we only had the three-week gap.
“This year’s completely different. If it had been a three-week gap he’d be going to Aintree. Touch wood, I think he looks fantastic – I don’t think he’s ever looked better in his skin. He looks in great health.”
Constitution Hill took off a stride too soon over the last in the Champion Hurdle (David Davies/PA)
Having made his first semblance of a mistake at the final flight in the Champion Hurdle, Henderson will do his best to ensure Constitution Hill does not do that again, while he does not envisage an extra half-mile at Aintree being a problem.
“He hasn’t started his serious work yet because we’ve had that gap. They have a very quiet first week, then he’s started cantering again and then he’ll have his first piece of work this weekend,” he said.
“Then he’ll have two more bits of work to do after that and then school, I’m sure, because the last hurdle he jumped – that sort of technique needs to be ironed out.
“You can’t iron it out completely – that’s his style and how he gets out of trouble – but luckily he’s got so much scope that he can do it.
“He was so full of horse that any other horse would have been tired at that stage and that mistake would have almost certainly tipped them over, but he had the ability to come up and then come up again in the air. It was an extraordinary thing to be able to do.
“He’s got to show that he stays two and a half miles, but don’t forget we were actually prepared to run him over two and a half first time out this year at Ascot, so I can’t be worried about doing it at Aintree this time of the year.”
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Rock My Way has two possible targets at Aintree as owner-trainer Syd Hosie looks ahead to a possible chasing career with his star five-year-old.
Hosie has been involved as an owner for many years with Colin Tizzard before entering the training ranks last year, saddling a handful of winners from his Dorset base.
Having earned a Grade Two success in a novice hurdle at Cheltenham in January, Rock My Way flew the flag for the yard in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival meeting and ran well for a long way before tiring behind Stay Away Fay, eventually being pulled up.
Rock My Way is a big winner for Syd Hosie, staying on gamely to land the £50,000 G2 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle under @tommyscu at @CheltenhamRaces
Hosie said: “The Albert Bartlett was a very good race this year. He ran really well for a long way, but just didn’t stay three miles.
“He is a nice horse, but he is five. There were two five-year-olds in the race, but I’m not making excuses.
“We have two options now, either the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Aintree over two-miles-four (furlongs) – that is probably where we are going to head with him, then put him away – and there is the Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle, but that is a bit of an ask, being a Grade One.
“I’m more inclined to run him in the handicap.”
Rock May Way has the scope to go chasing, although Hosie will take his time before making a plan for next season and beyond.
He added: “I have two owners with him now (Nick Case and John Romans), so we will see how he summers and make a plan.
“He definitely has the scope to go over fences. To me, a horse like that, is going to be more natural over a fence – he’s going to do everything easier over a fence.
“He probably needs to strengthen up a little more.”
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Sandy Thomson will fly the flag for the Scottish Borders when Hill Sixteen lines up in the Randox Grand National.
The region has a rich racing heritage and the 10-year-old will be the Lambden-based trainer’s third runner in the race as he sneaks into the 40-strong field off a feather-weight of 10st 2lb.
Seeyouatmidnight was sent off at 11-1 as Thomson’s first runner in the Merseyside marathon in 2018 finishing a well-held 11th behind Tiger Roll, before Dingo Dollar rather unfortunately unshipped Ryan Mania when going well at the second Canal Turn 12 months ago.
Now it is the turn of Hill Sixteen, who was beaten a nose in a Becher Chase thriller by Snow Leopardess in 2021 and last seen finishing seventh in the most recent renewal of the renowned dress rehearsal over the famous green spruce.
What a battle! ⚔
Snow Leopardess nicks the Unibet Becher Handicap Chase on the line 🥇
Although his best form comes with ease in the ground, his two completions over the National fences have the Borders handler dreaming it will be a case of third-time lucky ahead of Hill Sixteen’s turn to face the Aintree starter.
“We’re really looking forward to it and it has been such a funny spring we really could get a soft-ground National,” said Thomson.
“We’ve seen in the Becher over the past two years it has got to be soft for him to stand a chance. We saw last year that on good ground the top-rated horses have a much better chance, but when it turns soft, they have a big weight to lump round.”
The Grand National has been an ever-present in Thomson’s life and from an early age he grew up listening to tales of Scotland’s favourite racehorse – the Reg Tweedie-trained Freddie.
Freddie was sent off favourite for both the 1965 and 1966 Grand Nationals, finishing runner-up on both occasions, while Thomson’s brush with Aintree history stretches back to 1939 silver medallist MacMoffatt who was bred by the handler’s grandfather.
Although John Leadbetter’s Rubstic in 1979 and Lucinda Russell’s 2017 scorer One For Arthur are the only two winners of the world’s most famous steeplechase from north of the border, Thomson is keen to uphold Scotland’s strong association with the race.
He continued: “I have lots of very early memories of the race and we had Freddie just up the road. I was too young then but grew up with the stories of Freddie and my grandfather bred MacMoffatt.
“John Leadbetter won it and the Borders have had a great association with the race, albeit mostly hard-luck stories rather than actually winning it. But we’ve always gone there and been competitive.
“Non-racing people can’t understand how difficult it is to get a horse qualified to run in the Grand National and hopefully this will be our third runner. Some yards have hardly had a runner in the race. It’s a great occasion to be part of.”
Ryan Mania celebrates on Auroras Encore after winning the Grand National in 2013 (David Davies/PA)
If Hill Sixteen were to march home in front on April 15, it would be an extra-special moment for Thomson with stepson-in-law Ryan Mania set to do the steering.
Mania won the National on Auroras Encore in 2013 and having retired from the saddle in 2014, spent his years away from the weighing room serving as assistant for Thomson’s Lambden Racing operation before returning to the riding ranks with renewed vigour in 2019.
“Ryan’s record round the fences is very good,” continued Thomson. “He was unlucky last year with his saddle slipping round Canal Turn. That can happen to anyone in a race like that.
“The race has changed hugely over the last four or five years. Ryan said after riding in it last year that it’s such a different race now to what is was when he won on Aurora’s Encore.”
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Trainer Tim Vaughan was relieved and delighted in equal measure after Eva’s Oskar was confirmed as the 40th horse in the field following the latest scratchings deadline for the Randox Grand National.
The nine-year-old, who won a competitive handicap chase at Cheltenham earlier in the season, was previously further down the order of entry for the Aintree spectacular, but is now guaranteed a starting berth after a total of 16 horses were taken out.
The defectors include Shark Hanlon’s joint top-weight Hewick and Gordon Elliott’s Cheltenham Gold Cup third Conflated, with both absences anticipated. Becher Chase winner Ashtown Lad has also been removed by Dan Skelton, as has the Willie Mullins-trained Franco De Port.
Vaughan said: “We definitely want to run – we’re eager beavers!
“What’s lovely is we’ve actually got in. A lad who works for me was counting them down and we were thinking we might be 41st and you’re still lingering then until the day.
“It’s quite nice as it feels like we can relax now, enjoy the process and just hope that he takes to the fences well on the day.”
Since his Cheltenham success of early December, Eva’s Oskar has finished sixth at Sandown and fourth in the Eider Chase at Newcastle.
The grey is a 100-1 shot to claim Grand National glory with William Hill, but Vaughan insists he is not just there to make up the numbers.
Trainer Tim Vaughan (right) at Cheltenham (David Davies/PA)
“We’ve been planning to go there for some time and he seems in good shape. We can make a few fences at home now with the spruce on,” the Welsh trainer added.
“We didn’t want to do that until we knew where we were at. We thought today would sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of who definitely wanted to run and we’re excited to be in there.
“Of course I’m not naive enough to think we’re going there as a 10-1 chance, but as outsiders go he ticks a lot of boxes in that he’s good enough to win a £70,000 premier handicap at Cheltenham and he’s finished fourth in the Eider – we think he can do himself justice.
“It’s obviously a massive step up in class and it’s a great race with all the jazz that goes with it, but you’ve got to be in it to win it and that we are at the moment.”
Any Second Now will carry top-weight of 11st 12lb in the Grand National (Brian Lawless/PA)
A total of 57 contenders have stood their ground, with Ted Walsh’s Any Second Now – third and second in the last two renewals – out on his own at the head of the weights on 11st 12lb.
Last year’s winner Noble Yeats is just 1lb behind on 11st 11lb, as is Galvin, while ante-post favourite Corach Rambler looks set to carry 10st 5lb.
Eva’s Oskar and Recite A Prayer are the two lowest-rated horses in the field of 40 at this stage, with a mark of 142 translating to a weight of 10st 1lb.
Connections of the three horses rated 141 – Our Power, Dunboyne and Francky Du Berlais – now face an anxious wait to see if they will make the final cut for the great race on April 15.
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Nicky Henderson’s strong team of hurdlers for Aintree will not include Buzz or Steal A March.
The Seven Barrows handler, who took his Cheltenham Festival winners tally to 73 when Constitution Hill gave him a record ninth Champion Hurdle, has ruled both out of running at the Grand National Festival.
Dual-purpose star Buzz won the Cesarewitch at Newmarket and Ascot Hurdle in quick succession in the autumn of 2021, but has been off the track since fracturing his pelvis the day before an intended outing in the Long Walk Hurdle.
Henderson felt a tilt at the Stayers’ Hurdle would have been a bridge too far and similarly feels bypassing the Liverpool Hurdle allows the nine-year-old grey more time to return to peak fitness.
“We are working away with Buzz, I think really concentrating on a Flat campaign,” said Henderson. “That would be the most likely scenario.
“He is not quite going to be ready for Aintree, anyway. It would be tough to throw him straight into a Grade One.
“So I think we will be looking, as long as the weather holds on for a bit in the summer, at the Flat.
“But he is in good form and it is great to have him back in action. He’s enjoying himself, anyway.”
Steal A March was well-fancied by the yard to land what would have been a popular victory in the Pertemps Final.
The eight-year-old, who gave Henderson huge satisfaction by winning a lowly Worcester handicap hurdle on June 4, providing the Queen with a winner during her Platinum Jubilee weekend celebrations, will similarly not make the team for Aintree.
Now carrying the famous purple, scarlet and gold silks of the King, Steal A March was a narrow runner-up on his seasonal bow in a decent Newbury handicap and then scored at Wincanton on Boxing Day.
However, he did not line up at Cheltenham and Henderson revealed he has met with a setback.
“Unfortunately we had a problem with him before Cheltenham and he is going to have to take a bit of time out, which is frustrating, because I was very, very keen to run him in the Pertemps Final,” he said.
“He’d qualified, he won his qualifier and everything was going really well, but we have bumped into an issue, which is very frustrating and that was literally the week before.
“He won’t go to Aintree or Punchestown, sadly.”
https://devplatform.ggzssd.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2.63840141-scaled.jpg12802560DaveMhttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngDaveM2023-03-28 13:00:392023-03-28 13:00:39Buzz to be aimed at Flat return, as Henderson rules Aintree out
