When
Dr Richard Newland’s Pineau De Re stormed home five lengths clear
of the admirable Balthazar King in April’s first Crabbies-sponsored
Grand National
at Aintree it catapulted the trainer very much into the headlines,
shining the spotlight on a man who has for some time been noted as
very much on the up-and-up by aficionados of the winter game.
Newland
ended last campaign with a tremendous 23% winning strike rate and so
far this season has sent out 11 winners from 39 runners at an even
better winning ratio of 28%. These figures would be the envy of
virtually every other National Hunt trainer and there is no doubt
that the Worcestershire-based handler is a very talented horseman. It
therefore is far from beyond the bounds of possibility that Newland
might be able to bring this year’s winner of “the world’s
greatest steeplechase” back to Aintree where he has showed such a
liking for the track and its still unique fences.
Looking
at the current Grand National odds,
Pineau De Re [pictured] is currently a 25/1 ante-post joint-favourite alongside
the 2014 Irish Grand National winner Shutthefrontdoor, trained by
Jonjo O’Neill, and the Martin Brassil-trained Double Seven, third
behind Pineau De Re at Aintree and like Shutthefrontdoor owned by
leading National Hunt jumps owner and gambler, JP McManus.
McManus
has never hidden his fondness for
the Grand National
and celebrated in style when his Don’t Push Me landed a massive
gamble under Tony McCoy on the big day back in 2010. Shutthefrontdoor
will be an eight-year-old for next year’s big race, the perfect age
for a horse with a tremendously progressive profile as a staying
chaser.
Double
Seven, sent off the 10/1 joint-favourite for the 2014 Grand National
under Tony McCoy, has now shown that he can handle the hurly-burly of
the great race and as a nine-year-old will also fall into the ideal
age category for a race that could very well be within his
capabilities.