Henry Daly is keeping his fingers crossed that eight horses drop out of the Grand National before a week on Saturday so that his big hope Fortescue gets into the race.
The gelding has an entry for this Saturday’s Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr, but Aintree is still the main target. Fortescue became a worthy candidate for Aintree after his success at Ascot last month, but is currently 48th on the list – and only 40 horses are allocated to run in the race.
“Well, basically the plan is to run him at Aintree,” said the gelding’s trainer Henry Daly. “Unfortunately, the way things have conspired, we’re right on the cusp of things. We will sit down on Thursday and see who is going to run in Scotland. Then we will see if we have a good or worse chance of getting in at Aintree.
“Ayr is not a plan but might end up being it.” If all else fails, Daly has another back-up option in Sandown’s bet365 Chase at the end of the month.
“We will either get in the Grand National by two or miss it by one,” added Daly. “I’d like to run at Aintree if we can. He’s not going on holiday, that is for certain, he will go somewhere.”
Regardless where Fortescue runs he will be partnered Hugh Nugent, the grandson of gelding’s owner and breeder Tim Nixon. The eight-year-old is currently a 14-1 chance for the Scottish National, behind the Christian Williams-trained pair Kitty’s Light (5-1) and Win My Wings (8-1).
