The Jam Man ’50-50′ for Grand National outing

Ronan McNally not committing to Aintree run.

A Randox Grand National bid for The Jam Man is “50-50” at this stage, according to trainer Ronan McNally.

Hugely impressive in winning the Troytown Chase at Navan, the eight-year-old subsequently finished a fair sixth behind Main Fact over hurdles at Haydock, but was beaten a long way at the Dublin Racing Festival.

However, McNally has not been happy with the overall health of his string in recent weeks and feels that effort is easily explained.

On the possibility of a trip to Aintree, he said: “It’s probably 50-50 at this stage. He’ll be entered in the Irish National as well and we’ll just see how things are looking closer to the time.

“I never really dreamt he’d be running in a National until he won the Troytown – it surprised us how well he won. That opened up a few doors for us.

“He’s got a mark now which means we don’t have to worry about people dropping out of races for us to get in – it’s half the battle getting into these races.

“He’d have a lovely weight in the National on 10st 7lb. Because he’s only a small horse, it’s just whether he’ll take to the fences or not, but I suppose everyone has that question going there for the first time.

“We can take him to school at the Curragh to see if he takes to those and I think he’ll stay. He goes to sleep in his races which will help. Getting round would be my worry!”

He added: “We’ll just see how he is. If he’s healthy and well three weeks off, then it could become reality that we could have a go. The horses just aren’t quite firing at the minute, so we’ll have to hope they are in better form.”

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