He may have won the 2017 Grand National in spectacular fashion, beating Cause Of Causes by four-and-a-half lengths, but One For Arthur has had a difficult couple of years. He missed the defence of his title at last year’s race due to an injury that kept him out for the whole season, and since returning to the track he has only raced twice – unable to replicate his strong form from two years ago. One For Arthur goes into this year’s Grand National very much under the radar, with Betfair pricing him at 28/1 but trainer Lucinda Russell is confident of his chances.
Poor form
It wasn’t really a surprise to see One For Arthur struggle upon his return from injury. At the time, Russell stated that the aim was to get the horse ready for the 2019 Grand National – “Arthur’s welfare comes first and his rehabilitation will be tailored to bring him back for the Grand National in 2019”.
However, since making his comeback from injury in October last year, One For Arthur has not had the best of races – competing in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree and Peter Marsh Handicap at Haydock, both times unseating his rider. It wasn’t the comeback he’d have wanted after 609 days out, with Tom Scudamore unseated at the third fence in the Chase. It was unfortunate as One For Arthur had been chasing the leader prior to the fall. At Haydock, One For Arthur was reunited with Derek Fox (his jockey at his Grand National win) and made it a bit further than his last race, unseating Fox four fences from the finish, but certainly didn’t threaten the leading pack.
His next race will be the Grand National on April 6.
Schooling Session
However, One For Arthur was recently given a run-out at Carlisle and with less than two weeks to go until the big race, Russell will hope to give him a further run-out to freshen him up. Speaking after the session, Russell said:
“We were really delighted with him. Obviously, this season hasn’t gone smoothly, and we went to Carlisle for a confidence booster – probably more for us than Arthur, to be honest.”
“It’s great to get him back on track. It’s taken us until two weeks before Aintree, but we’ve got there in the end. He has another bit of work to do on Wednesday, and then it will just be a case of freshening him up”.
Grand National 2019
One For Arthur has fierce competition if he hopes to regain his title. Current favourite and last year’s winner Tiger Roll (4/1) will be looking to emulate Red Rum with back-to-back wins for the first time since the iconic horse in 1973-74. The favourite was recently successful at Cheltenham Festival, winning the Cross Country Chase by a massive 22 lengths, over Josies Orders.
Last year’s runner-up Pleasant Company is currently an outside bet at 22/1, while fourth-placed horse, Anibale Fly will also be one to watch (11/1). The former famously lost out by a head in last year’s race and no doubt, will be looking to go one better this time around; while Anibale Fly recently came runner-up in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
Another horse looking to make a comeback will undoubtedly be Blaklion. After going into 2017’s race the favourite at 8/1 and finishing fourth, there was disappointment last year as he was brought down at the first fence. He’s priced at 40/1 this time around.
