Grand National: Courage key to Ballabriggs' gruelling Aintree win

Published on Sunday 10 April 2011 18:35

Amidst all the understandable hoopla surrounding the McCain family and their tremendous feat of securing a fifth Grand National at Aintree on Saturday, there was almost forgetfulness that the achievement owed so much to a courageous horse.

All that was put to rights yesterday when Ballabriggs was the centre of attention at the Cholmondeley stables in Cheshire, to which the McCains moved some years ago from their original base in a former garage in Southport where Red Rum first practised his jumping.

Ballabriggs finished a gruelling National exhausted and dehydrated, but had largely revived by yesterday morning when, as per tradition, the winning stables were thrown open to press and public.

Trainer Donald McCain Jnr, his father Ginger, owner Trevor Hemmings and jockey Jason Maguire ceded centre stage to the handsome gelding. "He's tired, but he had a bit of a walk this morning,'' said McCain Jnr. "He's got a small cut on a hind leg but he's OK. I would have thought next year will be geared around Aintree again. He'll go for his summer break, but he may well go to the Becher Chase in November.

"We always hoped that he was going to make an Aintree horse. Now we know he's taken to it, handicap marks don't matter any more. I would like to think we'd be going back for the Grand National as often as we can."

Focusing on the world's most famous race worked for McCain's father, especially with Red Rum, so there might yet be more glory for the family. Proof that Ballabriggs could be of the quality of Red Rum came with the official time -by an incredible coincidence, this year's winner ran the race in nine minutes and one second, while Red Rum's then record time in 1973 was a few tenths of a second more at 9mins 1.9secs.

Aintree racecourse also saw a new record with 153,583 people attending the meeting over the three days, with 70,291 of them packed into the course on Saturday.

To the big race victor, meanwhile, went the spoils: carrots and polo mints. The human connections bagged 536,000 prize money, but Balabriggs was content with his unusual celebration breakfast, according to his stable lad Edward Bourne.

"He's very laid back and wouldn't be phased by all the attention and commotion that comes with the Grand National," said Bourne.

On Saturday night Ginger McCain, the family patriarch who sent out Red Rum thrice and Amberleigh House to win the National, was full of praise for Ballabriggs. "He's a lovely horse to look at," quipped the 80-year-old legend of racing."But he's a good 'un, not like these good-looking women that let you down when you get after them. He's done everything we thought he was capable of doing but you're never sure that he can do it until he's done it."

There were several hard luck stories in the race. Last year's winner Don't Push It, under champion jockey Tony McCoy looked set to mount a challenge to the pacemaking Ballabriggs, but he faded to finish a gallant third under top weight.

The baking sun dried out the ground to firmer than the official "good" verdict, and that meant Scotland's great grey hope Silver By Nature, trained by Lucinda Russell at Milnathort and ridden by Peter Buchanan, was caught out by the pace of the race, finishing 12th.

Favourite The Midnight Club also could not cope with the heat and pace and came home sixth. The image of jumps racing was damaged by the death of two horses in the race, especially as TV pictures showed the fateful green tarpaulins around the animals, but no one in National Hunt pretends the sport is entirely safe, not with jockey Peter Toole lying in a Liverpool hospital in a coma after his fall in an earlier race on Saturday.

Now all racing fans will hope for a safe outcome when the 'National' circus rolls on to Ayr on Saturday with the Coral Scottish Grand National taking pride of place in the richest day of jumps racing held in this country.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls confirmed last night that he will have top weight Neptune Collonges and exciting novice steeplechaser The Minack in the four-mile marathon, with Ruby Walsh taking the ride on the latter. Nicholls loves the Ayr race, as he considers it a fair test of staying chasers, but has only won it once with Belmont King in 1997. It seems unlikely there will be soft ground and clerk of the course Emma Marley is considering watering the Craigie course if the sunshine continues.

With last year's winner Merigo, trained by Andrew Parker at Lockerbie and owned by Raymond Anderson Green, set to fly the home flag, the "Scottish" will be a great contest as always. If we see the winning horse display courage like that of Ballabriggs, it will surely be a worthy victor.