One more for Arthur… it has been a long and winding road back to Aintree for gelding but he appears to have emerged from a tunnel into the light
- There were occasions when it looked like 2017 champion would not make it
- Trainer Lucinda Russell feared horse could have been making up the numbers
- But the horse put in a sparkling work-out at Carlisle under Derek Fox
- ‘We were hugging each other. It was like we had just won a race,’ Russell said
Appropriately, One For Arthur’s journey back to the land of The Beatles has been down a long and winding road.
Littered with potholes and diversions, there were occasions when it seemed like the 2017 Randox Health Grand National winner would still be off-road when this afternoon’s £1million steeplechase was run.
But suddenly the gelding, trained in Scotland by Lucinda Russell, appears to have emerged from a tunnel into bright, Aintree light.
One for Arthur won the Grand National in 2017 and the journey since has been full of potholes
Russell admits that a little over a fortnight ago she felt the 10-year-old would be ‘making up the numbers’ this afternoon.
But after the horse known simply as Arthur put in a sparkling work-out at Carlisle racecourse under jockey Derek Fox, Russell is full of optimism.
The trainer said: ‘We started this season with Plan A and Plan B. I think we are now on Plan F.
‘In 2017, everything was so smooth. This season we have been challenged all the time which is why we were so joyous he went so well at Carlisle.
‘When Derek got off him — and he is not a man who is exuberant — he was bubbling. Derek does not flower things up, so for him to say that Arthur felt fantastic was quite a thing.
The gelding could be a contender rather than making up the numbers in the Grand National
‘We were hugging each other. It was like we had just won a race.’
Problems for One For Arthur started in the autumn of his Grand National season. Lameness after a gallop prompted a precautionary scan which showed a small hole in a tendon in his right foreleg. His season was over and the chance of defending his title 12 months ago evaporated.
Until One For Arthur’s blossoming, this season had been more stop than start. He has failed to complete the course on both his runs, jumping awkwardly. Unseasonal fast ground has prevented other runs and, the week his Grand National weight was announced in February, in the midst of the equine flu outbreak, One For Arthur was denied the chance to run in Haydock’s National Trial because his latest vaccination did not fall within dates imposed by the British Horseracing Authority.
Solving Arthur’s wayward jumping meant curing some physical issues.
Russell said: ‘Gregor Knox, a good three-day event rider who works for us, has done a lot of work with Arthur, equine gymnastics and showjumping.
‘Our vets also checked him over. He was jumping left-handed because he was putting more pressure on one back leg than the other. Therefore one leg is tiring more than the other.
‘He did a lot of work on our water treadmill, which acted like physiotherapy to make him use both back legs evenly. The vets relieved pain around the sacroiliac joint (where the pelvis meets the spine).’
The hindquarters generate the power in a thoroughbred and the ‘new’ One For Arthur is now firing on all cylinders.
Russell, who received an OBE for her services to Scottish racing after One For Arthur’s 2017 win, added: ‘Remorseless galloping is Arthur’s strength. He did not have that in him at the start of the season. He didn’t have that inner core strength.
‘It’s a bit like someone going back to the gym after a long time without exercise. It was harder because we had to be careful how hard we pushed him after his injury. That’s why we wanted to get races into him.
Since 2017 there have been trials and tribulations but the ‘new’One For Arthur is now firing
‘But we’ve had to do it other ways. Horses can suddenly start to bloom and Arthur is just starting to. His coat is changing and his work is getting better. You can still see the appetite to race at home, but judging if he still has the ability will not be clear until the day. In one way the pressure is off us with expectations lower.
‘But there is another sort of pressure because Arthur is a horse people adore. He is owned by the Two Golf Widows — Belinda McClung and Deborah Thomson — but he has also become a public horse.
‘After he won, we received letters for months. It’s his name. There were lovely stories about people who had backed him because their baby was called Arthur and people who had lost a relative called Arthur putting bets on.
‘The competition is possibly tougher this time. Tiger Roll at his best will be a tough nut to crack. Understandably, Arthur has been a big outsider, but you start thinking the dream is back on.
‘In 2017, I thought he could win the National. Now I think he is an each-way bet with a good chance of being there at the end.’
Who knows? Maybe One For Arthur’s Mystery Tour has a Magical Merseyside ending.
