Son of Scu’s mission to upstage dad
IT is debatable which horse Tom scudamore’s daughters Margot and Myrtle want to win this afternoon’s Randox Health Grand National.
Dad will ride long-time antepost favourite Vieux Lion Rouge, who won the Becher Chase, arguably the best trial of the season, over the famous Aintree fences in December and Haydock’s Grand National Trial in February.
But there is a tempting inducement for the girls to cheer on One For Arthur, trained by grandpa Peter, the eight-time champion jump jockey, with his trainer partner Lucinda Russell.
Tom says: ‘i want this on record. if One For Arthur wins the Grand National, my father has promised a 10-year-old and eight-year-old he will buy them a pony each.
‘i think he is trying to bribe them but i don’t want him to worm out of it.’
Tom was even younger than his girls when he went to his first Grand National.
As a six-year-old, he can recall what was possibly Peter’s best chance evaporate when Martin Pipe-trained strands of Gold fell at Becher’s Brook on the second circuit in 1988 when galloping powerfully.
Tom remembers: ‘ i was too young for his third on Corbiere in 1985. i remember strands of Gold and it all being very disappointing but i didn’t understand.
‘My daddy won everything and i expected him to win the Grand National. i thought he’d come back and win it the next year. Little was i to know that was about as exciting as it was to get for dad.’
Thirteen rides in the Grand National, including the void race in 1993, may have been fruitless for Peter but the scudamore family name has long entwined in National history.
From 1951 when he was brought down on East A’Calling, Tom’s late grandad Michael rode in 16 consecutive runnings and won the 1959 race on Oxo. it was at his grandfather’s knee that Tom nurtured a passion to win the world’s most famous steeplechase.
He will even ride round this afternoon with a plan of action that has its origins back in those childhood days.
Tom says: ‘ The race has not changed much from grandad’s day and the positions of where
the winner has come from. Grandad had a set way of riding the race which he passed on to me but i am not telling you what he said!
‘We’d watch a video of the race over and over together. it was called 150 years of the Grand
National and i could recite every commentary off by heart.’
A couple of eighth places is the best Tom has done so far in 15 rides. He admits choosing to ride pulled-up smarty when he had been offered the mount on winner Bindaree in 2002 ‘took me quite a long time to get over’.
scudamore could have ridden Vieux Lion Rouge last year but stamina doubts meant he chose instead to ride David Pipe-trained stablemate Ballynagour, who unseated when still in contention at the 19th fence.
Those stamina doubts seem justified as Vieux Lion Rouge, ridden by James Reveley, faded into seventh. But Tom is convinced his mount is a different proposition 12 months on. He says: ‘Last year there would have been questions about his stamina last year. in the Grand National, he faded all the way up the home straight.
‘That was the story of him but crikey, you can’t say he is not seeing out his race this season. The strongest he has been is at the finish.’
Tom will hope that confidence is tested this afternoon. But if it is One For Arthur challenging as he round The Elbow in the run to the line, he might not be certain to get the support of Margot and Myrtle.