Tidal Bay could take his chance in Saturday’s Scottish Grand National at Ayr following his early exit at Aintree last weekend.
The 10-year-old only made it as far as the 10th fence in the Grand National when he parted 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,” Johnson said.
“He only got as far as the 10th 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 10-year-old now and where can he go now? I might be tempted to run him on Saturday.”
Should topweight Neptune Collonges line up at Ayr this weekend, Tidal Bay will be next on the list with 11st 10lb (74.5kg) 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 (owner) Graham Wylie about that,” Johnson said.
“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.”
PA gm
