COLEMAN PUTS FAITH IN NEPHEW

JOCKEY Aidan Coleman is hoping finally to banish his Crabbie’s Grand National blues at Aintree on Saturday. As a 20-year-old in 2009, Coleman decided against partnering the Venetia Williams-trained Mon Mome who went on to win the National at 100-1 with stand-in rider Liam Treadwell lapping up the glory instead. It was the only time in three National runs for Mon Mome that Coleman, now 26, had not ridden the gelding. This year he rides well-backed The Druids Nephew, having stepped in for broken-leg victim Barry Geraghty on the Neil Mulholland-trained gelding who won on the opening day of last month’s Cheltenham Festival. The eight-year-old is a 12-1 shot for the £1million showpiece but Coleman knows how fickle fortune can be in the biggest steeplechase in the world. In addition to the Mon Mome miss, Coleman’s two most recent rides in the race have seen him twice unseated from a hampered The Rainbow Hunter. Coleman said: ‘The Mom Mome incident was quite a blow at the time because I had a choice of mounts and picked the wrong one. ‘I rode him the year before and the year afterwards, I just wasn’t on him on the right day but that is just the way it goes. ‘Sometimes you are ahead and sometimes you are behind — that’s life in general. ‘At the time I was 20, very young in life as well as racing. It was probably the first negative thing to happen in my career. ‘Up until then I had never been injured, I had ridden out my claim in 14 months and was champion conditional. Since then there have been lots of good days and lots of bad days, so you become more streetwise and thicker skinned. ‘I didn’t have the best of luck on The Rainbow Hunter. He jumped well both times but ran into traffic problems and was more or less brought down last year. ‘There is an element of luck required in any race but that applies more with the National because of the nature of the fences and the distance.’ Coleman, who has enjoyed success over the famous fences in other races, feels The Druids Nephew has the right credentials given that slice of Aintree luck which has so far eluded him. The man who hopes to be a contender for champion jockey after AP McCoy retires, added: ‘It is definitely one of the best rides to pick up. Phil Smith, the chief handicapper, says he is the best handicapped horse in the race. ‘The race should suit this horse. He seems quite hardy. He handled the hustle and bustle of the Cheltenham Festival and came out a very nice winner. That should stand him in good stead as far as the Aintree experience goes.’ ÷ DENIS O’REGAN, second in the 2010 National on Black Apalachi, has picked up the mount of Peter Bowentrained 2014 Scottish National winner Al Co.

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