The Big Dog on course for Grand National assignment

Aintree hope none the worse after Leopardstown fall.

The Big Dog has been given a clean bill of health following his fall in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown, with trainer Peter Fahey reporting it is all systems go for a tilt at the Randox Grand National on April 15.

Winner of the Munster National on his first start of the season, he followed up by claiming the Troytown Handicap Chase at Navan in November – a victory that had connections dreaming of Aintree in the spring.

He then continued his fine campaign by finishing third off top-weight in the Welsh Grand National before being handed a Grade One assignment at the Dublin Racing Festival earlier this month.

Tasked with tackling the likes of Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs and Stattler, the 10-year-old was more than holding his own and having travelled sweetly throughout, was well in the shake up when coming to grief at the second last.

However, he is none the worse for that tumble and all roads now lead to the Merseyside marathon, where The Big Dog is a general 25-1 shot to continue the dominance of Irish-trained horses in the race.

“It looked like he was going to run a big race when he came down. Where his finishing position would have been I don’t know, but the one thing he was always going to do was stay on from the back of the second-last,” said Fahey.

“We were thrilled with his run and although he had a bad fall, he has come out of it well. We will just build up his confidence now with a bit of jumping and the main aim will be to go to Aintree.

“He’s back working away and exercising away and everything seems fine and all going well, we’ll be at Aintree.

“At the moment we’re not looking at running him again, but we still need to get him back jumping and schooling. If he hasn’t lost his confidence too much, we’d definitely not think about running again. If I think he needs a run to get his confidence back then we will give him one, but I would be leaning towards not running him.”

He went on: “He’s had a busy enough season and we know he goes well fresh. I think he’s done enough and if his jumping is OK after his fall, we’ll head straight to Aintree.

“If all things went well the last day, I think he would have run above his mark again which would have been a big performance and I think he proved he appreciated a bit of nicer ground as well, so there are definitely a few plusses to take out of his run in the Irish Gold Cup.”

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