Number ruled out of Aintree repeat
The 12-year-old struck Aintree gold in 2006 but has not run since finishing sixth behind Silver Birch in last year’s renewal and will not be seen in action this term.
Numbersixvalverde had been trading at the 33-1 mark with William Hill for the four-and-a-half-mile marathon, but Brassil has abandoned all hopes of his star stayer being ready in time for the April 5 event.
Consequently, Brassil opted not to put even a speculative entry in the race, which closes today.
He said: “He had a slight setback in October and he’s taken a long time to get over it.
“It has taken longer than expected and we wanted to have two runs before Aintree. Time is just not on our side so I didn’t enter him in the race at all.
“He’s out for the season and we will now just concentrate on getting him back next year.”
Although Numbersixvalverde has been ruled out, a strong Irish contingent is still on the cards with Michael Hourigan having two possibles in the frame.
Beef Or Salmon, a 10-time Grade One winner, has been put in the race but Hourigan is not sure if he will be allowed to tackle the unique obstacles.
“He will be entered in the Irish and Aintree Nationals – it will be either one or the other,” he told At The Races.
“It wouldn’t be the end of the world if we didn’t go to Aintree, he’s done the yard very well and he’s been a super horse all round. I wouldn’t like anything to happen to him.
“The boys that ride him all say he’d love Aintree and they know, but his jumping has been much better in the last couple of years than it was.”
If Beef Or Salmon does not make the Aintree field, Hourigan has another contender in Hi Cloy, available at a best-priced 50-1 with Hills despite his Kinloch Brae Chase win last time.
“He will certainly go down that (Aintree) road,” Hourigan added.
“He might go to the Red Mills (Chase) but there’s a race at Ascot the same weekend over two miles, five and a half furlongs.
“They’re the two races I have planned for him at the moment.”
Owner Sean Mulryan is keen to have a runner in the line up and Forget The Past is set to take his chance at Aintree.
The 10-year-old finished third behind War Of Attrition in the 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup but has failed to hit those kind of heights since.
Michael O’Brien’s charge was a winner at Thurles in November, but has not been seen since claiming fourth in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase last month.
“The plan is to run in the National,” confirmed Mulryan.
“He’s going to be running off a mark of 155 and it’s more the fact I want to have a runner in the race than the chance we would have in the National.”
John Smith’s Grand National, William Hill bet: 12-1 Mr Pointment, 14-1 Butler’s Cabin, Snowy Morning, 16-1 Bewleys Berry, Simon 20-1, McKelvey, 25-1 Cloudy Lane, Point Barrow, Philson Run, Royal County Star, Slim Pickings, 33-1 Hedgehunter, Comply Or Die, Irish Raptor, Vodka Bleu, Joes Edge, 40-1 Longshanks, 50-1 bar.
