Barry Geraghty will miss the ride on leading fancy Anibale Fly in Saturday’s Grand National after suffering two fractures of his right leg in a crashing fall from Peregrine Run in the Topham Handicap Chase at Aintree on Friday.
Geraghty appeared to be kicked by another runner in the race after falling at the 16th fence. He was taken to Aintree University Hospital for assessment and missed the winning ride on Champ in the subsequent Sefton Novice Hurdle.
Geraghty confirmed on his blog on attheraces.com that his injury will also rule him out of the major spring festival meetings at Fairyhouse and Punchestown this month.
“It has been confirmed that I have broken both my tibia and fibula just above my right ankle,” Geraghty said. “I haven’t seen a replay of the fall yet, but by the sounds of it, it might have been a kick off a horse that ran over the top of me after the fall that did the damage. It’s a real sickener to miss tomorrow as the Grand National is the race I look forward to more than any other, but missing Fairyhouse and Punchestown too is just as sickening.”
Mark Walsh, who rode Champ to victory, is expected to take over on the 16-1 chance Anibale Fly, the runner-up behind Al Boum Photo in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month. Walsh had previously been due to ride Regal Encore, a 66-1 outsider.
The Topham, which was the only race on Friday over the Grand National fences, also saw the second fatal injury to a runner at this year’s Aintree Festival when Forest Des Aigles, from Lucinda Russell’s stable, was put down after breaking a leg on the run to the final fence. Earlier in the day, Dan Skelton’s Crucial Role was also put down, after suffering an injury in a fall in the Mildmay Novice Chase.
Ruby Walsh, who will be aboard the second-favourite Rathvinden in Saturday’s Grand National, took the feature race for the second day running as Min ran away with the Melling Chase here under a front-running ride.
It is unlikely to be as straightforward on Saturday as Walsh tries to find a plan to beat Tiger Roll, one of the warmest favourites for the National for a century or more.
“The plan is the same as always, get over the first and make a plan after that,” Walsh said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re on the favourite, the second-favourite or a 100-1 chance.”
