Reveley relishing reunion with Grand National hopeful Roi Mage

JAMES REVELEY will get the leg- up on a horse he helped to source as he partners Roi Mage in the Randox Grand National on Saturday.

The 12- year- old is trained in Ireland by Patrick Griffin and his son and assistant James – a duo Reveley is well acquainted with, having ridden numerous winners for them throughout his career.

A notable victory shared between them was with Maggio in the Listed Betfred Handicap Chase in 2016, the race before the Grand National in which Rule The World triumphed for Mouse Morris and David Mullins.

On that occasion, Reveley wore the blue and yellow silks previously made famous by Auroras Encore when he won the Aintree showpiece in 2013 for Sue Smith and Ryan Mania, colours belonging to a group of owners that clearly love to target the big race.

They did so last year with Roi Mage, who was partnered by another France- based jockey in Felix de Giles and finished an admirable seventh after his first encounter with the unique National obstacles at Aintree.

After a summer break, he joined forces with Reveley to target the Listed Grand Steeple- Chase- CrossCountry de Compiegne, a race he won by three lengths on heavy ground over three miles and three furlongs. Most recently, he was seen in the Bluegrass Stamm 30 Chase at Down Royal, finishing second behind fel low Nat ional challenger Adamantly Chosen. That run has prepared him nicely for his Liverpool bid and Reveley is looking forward to reuniting with him on going that is guaranteed to be testing.

“He’s a horse I’ve ridden a few times and I know quite well, I found him for the Griffins in France,” he said. “I’d ridden him in France and I thought he’d be a good National type, they’ve had a bit of fun with him, they’ve had a couple of wins and a good run in the National last year. Let’s hope he can put in another one, as they love to have a National horse.

“I actually rode a winner for them at Aintree in the race before the National a long time ago, on Maggio in the same colours, so that’s where the connection comes from.

“They asked me if there were any horses in France that could potentially be National types and I thought of this horse, he’s turned out to be quite good for them.

“I think things have gone a bit better for him this year, his last run was good, very solid, and I liked how he stayed on to the line.”