National outcry as winner misses cut
PINEAU DE RE, winner of the 2014 Crabbie’s Grand National, looks sure to miss Saturday’s race after being left well below the cut- off point for the final 40 starters.
The £1million prize-money plus greater confidence in the track’s safety have led to the best-quality entry in the race’s history. BHA handicapper Phil Smith said 10 of the National winners since 1999 would not be rated high enough to make it into this weekend’s line-up.
The likely absence of Pineau De Re prompted Dr Richard Newland, the horse’s trainer, to call for changes to the entry criteria, something Aintree supremo John Baker said was likely to be discussed after the race.
Newland wants owners to be limited to three runners — JP McManus has four guaranteed starters — and said horses should be judged purely on handicap ratings from races of three miles plus.
After learning Pineau De Re needs six horses above him to drop out, Newland said: ‘It is disappointing. Forgetting my own horse, a runner like Alvarado (No 48), who has been placed for the last two seasons, should be in. I don’t think owners should have more than three runners in a prestigious race.
‘You also have to wonder whether the handicap ratings of some horses are a true assessment of their staying form.’
Other entries in danger of missing out include Haydock Grand National Trial winner Bishops Road, who needs one above him in the weights to drop out, and Highland Lodge (No 47), winner of the Becher Chase at Aintree’s December meeting.
Gordon Elliott-trained Cheltenham Festival winner Causes Of Causes, also owned by McManus and prominent in the betting, is No 49. His hopes of running appear to lie somewhere between slim and non-existent.
Baker added: ‘We always want to innovate and do what is best for the race in the future.’
One change easily implemented would be making the Becher Chase and Haydock Trial ‘win-and-you’rein’ contests. That would have the effect of potentially strengthening those two races.
There were no surprise withdrawals at the penultimate forfeit stage. Willie Mullins took out Turban but he and Paul Nicholls still look like saddling a quarter of the line-up.
Limiting the runners from an individual trainer, when horses are in different ownership, is a nonstarter. But an innovation suggested by the BHA and rejected by the National Trainers Federation this year should be looked at again.
Entries for the National earn no penalties if they win. But it was suggested a winner could be handed an optional 4lb penalty, to be taken at the trainer’s discretion.
Accepting it might diminish a runner’s chance but could lift him into a starting slot. It would be an incentive to get out and win. Oliver Sherwood’s Many Clouds, the 2015 winner and top weight, is 7-1 favourite to give his jockey Leighton Aspell a historic third consecutive win.
Mick Channon- trained Knock House is No 42 on the list. If he gets in, Nina Carberry has been offered the ride.
CORAL BETTING: 7 Many Clouds, 10 The Last Samuri, 12 Silviniaco Conti, 14 Holywell,
16 Cause Of Causes, Saint Are, The Druids Nephew, 20 Goonyella, Shutthefrontdoor,
25 Bishops Road, Boston Bob, Kruzhlinin, Morning Assembly, O’Faolains Boy, Triolo D’Alene, Ucello Conti, Unioniste.