Al Eile well for Aintree assault

Al Eile is on course to bid for a remarkable fourth victory in the John Smith’s Aintree Hurdle on Saturday.

Trainer John Queally reports the nine-year-old to be on target to try to emulate the recently deceased Morley Street, the only four-time winner of the big hurdle race on Grand National day.

“It’s that time of the year again. He’s good, but it was looking grim in November,” said the County Waterford-based handler.

“We’ve been very patient and we’re nearly there now.”

A ligament injury looked like keeping Al Eile off the track for the entire season after his third win on Merseyside in four years.

However, Queally was able to get the Michael Ryan-owned gelding back into training at Christmas before the horse made a triumphant return to action on the all-weather at Dundalk a month ago.

“We’ve had a trouble-free run with him since we started back with him at Christmas,” Queally added.

“In December, the leg started to look OK and we decided tentatively to have a go and take our time – we haven’t looked back since then.

“It was great for him to win at Dundalk – he exceeded our expectations.

“We thought he would run OK, but to win was great.”