Second victory looks to be on cards for Ted
ALMOST two decades on from the victory of Commanche Court, Cheltenham Festival hero Any Second Now bids to provide Ted Walsh a second success in the BoyleSports Irish Grand National.
It was in 2000 that Commanche Court secured Ted and Ruby Walsh a National double at Fairyhouse — with the father-son combination having teamed up to claim Grand National glory at Aintree little over a fortnight earlier with the heavily-backed Papillon.
The JP McManus-owned Any Second Now provided Walsh senior with his first Cheltenham triumph since Commanche Court won the 1997 Triumph Hurdle when landing the Kim Muir under Derek O’Connor last month, and he has been towards the head of the betting for the Easter Monday highlight ever since.
Walsh said: ‘All being well, he’ll be there to line up, so long as the ground is suitable. His three wins have all been when the ground has had soft in it and I can’t see there being any soft in the ground on Monday, so that would be the worry.
‘He went up 7lb for winning in Cheltenham. I couldn’t tell you if he’s that much improvement in him or not. The extra three furlongs might help him find the improvement, but we’ll see.
‘He’s fresh and he’s well and jumps well. I’d say there’s another big day in him. Whether it’s Easter Monday or not, I’m not 100 per cent sure, but he’s in good old nick.’
The Irish Grand National is one of the few major prizes to have so far eluded champion trainer Willie Mullins.
The Closutton maestro came as close as he has ever done when Isleofhopendreams was beaten a head by Gordon Elliott’s General Principle 12 months ago and he is back for another go alongside six stablemates.
Ruby has sided with Burrows Saint in preference to Isleofhopendreams (Danny Mullins), Pairofbrowneyes (Paul Townend), Total Recall (Patrick Mullins), C’est Jersey (Katie O’Farrell), Acapella Bourgeois (Jonathan Burke) and Bellow Mome (David Mullins).
David Casey, Mullins’ assistant, said: ‘Ruby has gone for Burrows Saint. Novices have a good record in this race and I think Ruby has won it on a couple of novices (Commanche Court and Numbersixvalverde).
‘I don’t think six-year-olds have such a good record in it, but Burrows Saint was good in Limerick the last day and he’s an improving horse.
‘Paul rides Pairofbrowneyes, who won his second Leinster National last time out. He was actually favourite for this race last year and tipped up. He goes there with a big chance again.
‘I think C’Est Jersey could run well. His novice form is quite good and he has a light weight on his back with Katie O’Farrell taking 5lb off.
‘Hopefully they all have chances.’
Defending champion General Principle is one of 12 for Elliott in this year’s renewal, with Jury Duty — who unseated Robbie Power at the 18th in the Aintree National — the shortest priced of the dozen.
Shane Collins, part of the Sideways Syndicate that owns Jury Duty, said: ‘His hind legs hit the fence in Aintree and he got rid of Robbie. It was disappointing, but that’s the way it goes.
‘The positive thing about it is he didn’t have a hard race. If he’d fallen at the secondlast or something he probably wouldn’t be running, but he seems to have come out of it well and Gordon thinks he’s in good form.
‘It looks like the ground will be good, which won’t bother him — he handled good ground when he won the American Grand National.
‘This is a massive race in Ireland and we’ll see how we go.’