Grand National
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20 Mar 12
20:18
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05 Jan 10
By Lewis Porteous racingpos.com 6:06PM 20 MAR 2012
THE PROSPECT of Synchronised becoming just the second horse in history to add the John Smith's Grand National to the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup crown he seized just last week remains a distinct possibility, after trainer Jonjo O'Neill said on Tuesday that he saw "no reason" not to run in the Aintree marathon on April 14.
Golden Miller, the winner of five consecutive Gold Cups [1932-36], is the only horse to complete the double when winning at Aintree in 1934 and despite connections of recent Gold Cup winners rarely considering a tilt at the National, O'Neill thinks it's the obvious race for the JP McManus-owned nine-year-old.
"Synchronised has come out of Cheltenham fine and we'll make a decision nearer the time whether we go or not but there's no reason why not at the moment," said the trainer on Tuesday.
He added: "He's in great form and if he comes back to the form he was in at Cheltenham then why wouldn't you go there?"
Betfred's 8-1 favourite could be joined in the race by stablemates Sunnyhillboy, also a winner at Cheltenham and a 20-1 shot, and Arbor Supreme (40-1) according to O'Neill.
The trainer said: "Sunnyhillboy is also in good form. He stayed well at Cheltenham the other day and I think he'll probably get the trip. He's a contender hopefully.
"Things have gone wrong the last couple of times with Arbor Supreme, he's a little bit difficult to get right. He's working well and in good form with himself and if he comes back to his best form then he'd have a chance."
The BHA's head of handicapping, Phil Smith, says both Synchronised and Sunnyhillboy would be favourably treated in the National following their Cheltenham wins, although Sunnyhillboy, rather than his more illustrious stablemate, would be the more leniently treated.
Smith said: "The slight advantage Synchronised has is that he is now on a mark of 168 after the Gold Cup and he'd be running in this race off a mark of 161 so technically he's 7lb well in.
"Sunnyhillboy wasthe widest margin handicap winner at Cheltenham and has gone up 10lb so technically he is well in by that amount and the runner-up in his race, Becauseicouldntsee (20-1), has gone up 5lb so they would have a different rating now if I reframed the race."
O'Neill also confirmed that Ryanair Chase runner-up Albertas Run and Get Me Out Of Here, second in the Coral Cup, are likely runners at the three-day meeting that starts on April 12
THE PROSPECT of Synchronised becoming just the second horse in history to add the John Smith's Grand National to the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup crown he seized just last week remains a distinct possibility, after trainer Jonjo O'Neill said on Tuesday that he saw "no reason" not to run in the Aintree marathon on April 14.
Golden Miller, the winner of five consecutive Gold Cups [1932-36], is the only horse to complete the double when winning at Aintree in 1934 and despite connections of recent Gold Cup winners rarely considering a tilt at the National, O'Neill thinks it's the obvious race for the JP McManus-owned nine-year-old.
"Synchronised has come out of Cheltenham fine and we'll make a decision nearer the time whether we go or not but there's no reason why not at the moment," said the trainer on Tuesday.
He added: "He's in great form and if he comes back to the form he was in at Cheltenham then why wouldn't you go there?"
Betfred's 8-1 favourite could be joined in the race by stablemates Sunnyhillboy, also a winner at Cheltenham and a 20-1 shot, and Arbor Supreme (40-1) according to O'Neill.
The trainer said: "Sunnyhillboy is also in good form. He stayed well at Cheltenham the other day and I think he'll probably get the trip. He's a contender hopefully.
"Things have gone wrong the last couple of times with Arbor Supreme, he's a little bit difficult to get right. He's working well and in good form with himself and if he comes back to his best form then he'd have a chance."
The BHA's head of handicapping, Phil Smith, says both Synchronised and Sunnyhillboy would be favourably treated in the National following their Cheltenham wins, although Sunnyhillboy, rather than his more illustrious stablemate, would be the more leniently treated.
Smith said: "The slight advantage Synchronised has is that he is now on a mark of 168 after the Gold Cup and he'd be running in this race off a mark of 161 so technically he's 7lb well in.
"Sunnyhillboy wasthe widest margin handicap winner at Cheltenham and has gone up 10lb so technically he is well in by that amount and the runner-up in his race, Becauseicouldntsee (20-1), has gone up 5lb so they would have a different rating now if I reframed the race."
O'Neill also confirmed that Ryanair Chase runner-up Albertas Run and Get Me Out Of Here, second in the Coral Cup, are likely runners at the three-day meeting that starts on April 12
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