Fox hoping for nod in National
MY fingers and toes are firmly crossed that Derek Fox gets the all clear this week to ride One For Arthur in the £1million Randox Health Grand National.
The jockey has been fast-tracking his rehabilitation in Jack Berry House in Malton for over a fortnight since fracturing his right wrist and damaging his left collarbone in a fall.
Lucinda Russell reports One For Arthur has never been better and that his preparation for Aintree on April 8th has been going like clockwork.
His work on the gallops and his schooling could not have been better. Lucinda’s horses are in decent form as advertised by Sammy B following up wins at Kelso and Musselburgh at a pretty muddy Haydock on Wednesday.
Sammy B is owned and bred by former St Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown and he told me it wasn’t a bad effort from an orphan foal whose foster mother was a Clydesdale mare. Scotland is one trainer less as George Bewley has moved back to his Cumbrian roots after a fair old spell based in Bonchester Bridge near Hawick.
George is now at Bolton in the Appleby area where his nearest neighbour Kenneth Slack has been allowing him use of his gallops while his own are being constructed.
A native of West Cumbia, George is steadily building up his new premises and has plenty of hills and grassland to keep horses nice and fit. Hopefully the winners will start to flow soon.
Someone moving in the opposite direction is Cartmel supremo Jonathan Garratt who has been appointed managing director at Kelso after spending nearly seven years in the southern Lakeland region.
Jonathan, who was the helm of Scottish Racing between November 2004 and August 2010, takes over in the summer from Richard Landale who will remain on as a director and to assist with sponsorship.
It was great to see plenty of students taking advantage of a superb offer at Musselburgh’s final jumps meeting of the season on Friday. The deal featured a special package deal of £8.99 which included admission, a drink, a racecard, a £2 Tote bet and a tipster talk.