Tidal Bay a possibility for Ayr showpiece

The ten-year-old only made it as far as the tenth fence in the Grand National before parting company with his jockey Brian Hughes, and trainer Howard Johnson can hardly believe how well his mercurial talent has taken those exertions.

"I don't know what to do with him at the moment, but he didn't really have a race at Aintree," said Johnson.

"He only got as far as the tenth and he was just lobbing along on the inside when he got rid of Brian. The horse has come back and has been in the field ever since. He's bucking, kicking and squealing.

"He's eating up well and kicking sky-high when other horses are going past. He's very well. He doesn't over-exert himself and he's had an easy season. He's been geared up for the Grand National and it went wrong on me. He's a ten-year-old now and where can he go now? I might be tempted to run him on Saturday."

Should top-weight Neptune Collonges line up at Ayr this weekend, Tidal Bay will be next on the list with 11st 10lb on his back. If connections decide to give Tidal Bay the green light, the next decision to be made will be whether to claim weight off the veteran with a conditional jockey.

"I'd have to talk to Graham Wylie (owner] about that," Johnson added. "The race will declare on Thursday, so we'll have to decide what we're going to do by then. If Paul Nicholls runs the top horse, we'll be next in the weights and I'll have to see what Graham wants to do."

l Jockey Peter Toole was woken from an induced coma on Monday night as he continues to recover from serious injury in hospital. The 22-year-old suffered bleeding on the right side of his brain when 100-1 shot Classic Fly fell at the first fence during the Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree on Saturday.