De Boinville backed ahead of Step Back National bid

Horse Racing
De Boinville backed ahead of Step Back National bid

Connections are happy to have Nico de Boinville on board Step Back ahead of the Grand National.

Sara Bradstock, whose husband Mark trains Step Back, says the nine-year-old impressed over mock National fences in Lambourn last week.

De Boinville partnered the Bradstock-trained Coneygree to Cheltenham Gold Cup glory four years ago and Sara Bradstock is hoping the jockey can help the stable claim another huge prize.

‘We’ve been up to school over the National fences and all went well,’ Bradstock told the Racing Post.

‘I doubt we’ll do it again because he jumped them so well.

‘He hasn’t had his ground this season.

Chepstow was too fast and that makes his right-handed bias bigger and he jumps badly right.

‘Nico wasn’t too hard on him and then the Classic Chase at Warwick was very frustrating because he lost a shoe and, as I’ve said before, he’s got horrible feet, so losing a shoe would be a big drama.

‘ She added: ‘He’s always a worry because of his appallingly delicate feet, but he jumped the National fences well and had a gallop at a point-to-point course last week and did that well too.

It’s all systems go and Nico will ride.

He won a Gold Cup for us so he can now win the National – why not?’

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