It’s 30 years since a famous headline in racing history. The esteemed bloodstock writer Tony Morris responded to Celtic Swing swerving the Epsom Derby, and lining up instead in the French equivalent, with a critique headed Sad Mad Bad. History kind of repeated itself this week.
JP McManus’s decision to remove his Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin from the upcoming Aintree Grand National is a lot of things, but mad isn’t one of them. It is a logical call in many ways.
For one thing there are just 22 days between the Gold Cup and jump racing’s other great prize, a counterproductive piece of scheduling always likely to discourage those from asking a horse to run two gruelling races so close together.
There’s also how Inothewayurthinkin is only seven. That he was able to beat a proper champion like Galopin Des Champs the way he did last week suggests a horse capable of at least defending his Gold Cup title next year and maybe more.
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Trainer Gavin Cromwell was also worried about the potential for a horse whose jumping has had to be worked on getting a fright. It isn’t unreasonable then to explain away missing Aintree due to what might be in the horse’s best long-term interests.
Maybe even more to the point is how the front of the National betting is already crammed with other McManus-owned horses.
Topweight and defending champion I Am Maximus has a shot at emulating Red Rum and Tiger Roll as a back-to-back Grand National winner. Iroko is also a leading player. Perceval Legallois is another McManus hope and one of a trio of hopefuls also trained by Cromwell.
From the point of view of a reasonable and effective distribution of resources, waiting for Punchestown with the Gold Cup hero makes sense.
None of which prevents the decision being bad for the Grand National and sad from a sporting point of view.
In his enigmatic way, McManus likes to talk about “magic moments” after his famous green and yellow silks have been carried to success. That verbal tick gets pounced upon by some of racing’s mimics, but it suggests an appreciation of broader contexts than simply passing the post first. That awareness seems to have deserted racing’s most powerful owner this time.
It is 91 years since the legendary Golden Miller became the only horse to win the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season. In 1934, the National was the most prestigious of the two races as well as the most high-profile. It’s still the most well-known, even if the Gold Cup is the blue riband.
What even the most casual racing fan can understand though is how they are the two races they’ve heard about. They can also appreciate the significance of a horse having a shot at winning the two of them in the same year for the first time in nearly a century.
It’s a promotional sweet spot. The National is racing’s ultimate shop window, an annual excursion into the international sporting spotlight. An easy-to-digest piece of potential history could have been a priceless cherry on top of the usual spectacle.
It’s not like arguments to back up McManus’s caution can’t be countered. The most convincing is how Inothewayurthinkin would have been officially 15lbs “well in” had he lined up at Aintree. That’s the discrepancy in his rating between now and before the Gold Cup. The National is a handicap, so in theory, he would have had a substantial head start that he’ll never enjoy again.
Yes, the horse is only seven but so was the 2022 winner Noble Yeats and he was less experienced. There’s also an argument that any horse able to jump smoothly around Cheltenham should have no problem with the modern Aintree.
The National is a pale facsimile of the challenge it was even a decade ago. There wasn’t a single faller in last year’s race. A reduced maximum field of 32 started and 21 finished. It’s now a race that rewards quality and what’s more quality than a reigning Gold Cup champion?
Logical as the call not to run Inowhaturthinkin might be in some respects, and as easy as it is to be plucky with someone else’s horses, it’s ultimately a call that smacks of timidity.
The game can’t throw up any more magical a moment than the potential for a Gold Cup-Grand National double. And yet the prospect doesn’t seem to have been considered extraordinary enough to throw caution to the wind and have a go.
Maybe it’s due to the memory of the fate suffered by Synchronised, the Gold Cup winner McManus ran in the 2012 National only for the horse to fall and suffer fatal injuries when running loose.
However, Aintree is different now and this would have been a rare confluence of factors that looked to set up a real shot at racing history.
McManus can point to how the Celtic Swing story ultimately vindicated the decision of his owner Peter Savill. Having won that Prix du Jockey Club, the colt found the Curragh’s undulations a struggle and was injured in the Irish Derby.
This looks like a similarly rational and hard-headed call. But it also looks like a rare opportunity lost.
Something for the Weekend
Ol Man Dingle (3.50) should benefit from a significant hike in trip at Navan tomorrow and manage to concede weight all round in a novice hurdle. Eoin Griffin’s charge was fourth to McLaurey at the Dublin Racing Festival but before that had won well at Christmas over 2½ miles.
Better ground at Newbury can help Don’t Mind if I Do (3.50) bounce back from an odds-on defeat at Windsor in January.
