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One For Scotland as King Arthur powers to Grand National glory
Under a perfect blue sky on the most glorious of spring afternoons, One For Arthur delivered an impeccable staying and jumping performance to win the Randox Health Grand National, handing victory to a Scottish-trained horse for the first time since Rubstic in 1979 and just the second time ever.
Ridden with supreme confidence by Derek Fox, resplendent in saltire silks, and trained by Scotland’s leading jumps trainer Lucinda Russell at her Kinross base north of Edinburgh, One For Arthur powered clear from Cause Of Causes and National veteran Saint Are from the last to secure victory in the world’s greatest steeplechase at odds of
14-1.
“It’s brilliant for Scotland,” said an ecstatic Russell, just the fourth female trainer to win the race after Jenny Pitman, Venetia Williams and Sue Smith. “What an amazing day. He’s an amazing horse, he’s improved every time. I kept thinking that barring accidents he’ll win the National – and he has!
“He’s done us proud and he’s done Scotland proud, and he’s done everyone at the yard proud.”
One For Arthur was deep in the field through the opening circuit, of which the most significant moment was when Definitly Red, sent off second favourite, was pulled up after almost unseating at Becher’s Brook, but the winner began to make stealthy progress in the second circuit, sliding by runners to creep into a challenging position.
At the front of affairs, however, all eyes were fixed on Blaklion, who had been supported by a late surge of money and was sent off the
8-1 favourite. He travelled superbly for Noel Fehily, at 42 the oldest jockey in the race, but ultimately hit the front too soon, having led and gone clear a long way from home.
By the final fences Blaklion was being closely attended by a quartet of runners, of whom the duo travelling most powerfully were Cause Of Causes and One For Arthur. At the second-last Fox’s mount lept left, bumping Blaklion, after which the longtime leader appeared to lose a crucial bit of zest for the final stages of the gruelling marathon, although he plugged on gamely to finish fourth.
One For Arthur, though, was unfazed and hit the lead approaching the last, pinged the towering fence and quickly went a couple lengths in front of the tenacious Cause Of Causes before galloping strong round the elbow and to the line to unleash certain celebrations in every corner of Scotland bar the betting offices.
Fox, who like last year’s winner David Mullins was having his first ride in the race, almost missed this glorious moment. On March 9 he broke his collar bone and wrist, giving him little chance of recovering to take the ride, but against all odds he was here, back in the saddle less than a month later.
“I was very worried I wouldn’t be back in time,” Fox said. “It was a real struggle, a race against time. Some days I felt very low, I thought I probably had no chance. But Lucinda and Scu [Peter Scudamore] had faith in me to come back and the owners never questioned that I would ride him so I have a massive thank-you to the owners and Lucinda and Scu.”
Scudamore, Russell’s partner and assistant trainer, was an eight-time champion jockey but never won the National himself. Yet part of the National’s enduring appeal, as Fox noted, is that it is a race with no respecter of reputation or standing.
“Not everyone can be champion jockey as you need a lot of support behind you,” Fox said. “But I think the Grand National is a race for every lad like myself to give us a chance against the big boys.”
Scudamore, for his part, was delighted to finally get in the National winner’s enclosure and extolled the race’s unique character in the aftermath. “I was here first thing this morning,” he said. “I love the National morning when the sun is coming up over the fences. You can feel Red Rum, you can feel my father [Michael Scudamore, who won the race in 1959]. It’s a real special occasion.”
As it has so often done, this National provided a sporting story for the neutral to savour, as it was a victory for the underdog on every level: for Scotland, a racing minnow compared to England and Ireland; for Fox, a 25-year-old rider who sits 61st in the jockeys’ championship; for the owners, the Golf Widows, just two friends from Scotland whose husbands spend too long on the links; and for Russell, a talented trainer whose paucity of resource meant she saddled not one runner at the Cheltenham Festival this year.
And this was also a great Grand National in one other very important respect: each one of the 40 jockeys and 40 horses involved returned unharmed, meaning there have been no equine deaths for five consecutive runnings of the race.
While the National has become safer the spectacle is utterly undiminished. A race that has enchanted generations has simply changed with its audience. It is safer, better managed and more responsible than ever, but still every bit as thrilling and unpredictable as it ever was. It is a race fit to be treasured by a 21st century audience. Revised, renewed but still magnificent, and still with the capacity to provide sporting stories without match.
fonte : RacingPost
