John Ingles looks at the pedigrees of some of this year’s Aintree first-timers for clues about them staying the marathon trip.
The first two in last year’s Grand National, Corach Rambler and Vanillier, are among the leading contenders again, but what do the pedigrees tell us about some of the other leading contenders who will be tackling the four and a quarter miles of Aintree’s unique test for the first time?
I AM MAXIMUS
Authorized – Polysheba (Poliglote)
The French-bred I Am Maximus has only been tried over a marathon trip once before but he made it count, winning the Irish Grand National over 3m5f to get off the mark over fences this time last year. Most recently, he has also won the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse over 3m1f, emphatically beating Vanillier giving the runner-up plenty of weight. However, his pedigree would have given little clue that he’d become a high-class staying chaser, though he does share his sire, Derby winner Authorized, with dual Grand National hero Tiger Roll. Out of a mare by Poliglote, I Am Maximus is therefore bred on the same cross as the talented but quirky jumper Goshen.
Poliglote sired an Irish Grand National winner himself for I Am Maximus’ owner J. P. McManus, and is the sire of another Grand National entry Roi Mage who was seventh last year. Whilst Poliglote is better known for his jumpers such as top novice chaser Fact To File, his daughter Polysheba, the dam of I Am Maximus, was a useful filly on the Flat for Andre Fabre who was listed-placed, though her full brother Assureur did win over hurdles in France. However, this is principally a Flat family and one which has had success at the top level in the USA not too far back, with I Am Maximus’ grandam being a half-sister to champion 1990 three-year-old colt Unbridled, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic.
KITTY’S LIGHT
Nathaniel – Daraiyna (Refuse To Bend)
If anything, the Flat-bred Kitty’s Light has even more of an unlikely pedigree for a staying chaser than I Am Maximus. But winning three races over fences before he’d even turned five soon made that academic, and he’s since proven himself a thorough stayer, ending last season winning three major long-distance handicaps, the Eider, the Scottish Grand National and the bet365 Gold Cup. His sire Nathaniel has still had fewer than a dozen winners over fences all told and it would be some achievement for a stallion best known for top-class Flat mare Enable to come up with a Grand National winner just two years after his son Desert Crown won the Derby.
Like many successful jumpers before him, Kitty’s Light comes from an Aga Khan family. Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, his dam Daraiyna won over a mile and a quarter in France and was a half-sister to Dariak who showed useful form over hurdles in Ireland. A bit further back, this is also the family of Prix du Jockey Club winners Darsi and Almanzor, the latter a champion three-year-old in Europe for Rouget.
MEETINGOFTHEWATERS
Court Cave – Maisy Daisy (Luso)
Meetingofthewaters has a bit more to prove stamina-wise than the above-named pair but he also has a much more conventional jumping pedigree. A winning pointer, Meetingofthewaters won the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown on his first try over three miles under Rules and ran his best race over a furlong further when third in the Ultima at Cheltenham last time. His sire is Court Cave, an unraced brother to Beat Hollow who also has a Grand National runner this year, former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo.
Meetingofthewaters’ dam Maisy Daisy won a Limerick bumper on her debut and is a half-sister to numerous winners, including Boneyarrow who was a useful novice hurdler/chaser when trained by Meetingofthewaters’ trainer Willie Mullins. Among the good jumpers a bit further back in the family are Keepatem who also won the Paddy Power Chase and stayed very well (second in the four-mile Borders National at Kelso) and the Feltham Novices’ Chase winner Dakyns Boy who was another thorough stayer, finishing second in an Eider and completing once in a Grand National. This family’s success with the Mullins yard goes back a long way as Meetingofthewaters’ great grandam Slave Light was a full sister to the dam of none other than Dawn Run.
Panda Boy was runner-up to Meetingofthewaters in the Paddy Power (replay below), finishing placed in that race for the second year running, and has form over further too, having finished a creditable fifth behind I Am Maximus in last year’s Irish Grand National. He’s from the first crop of the smart French stayer Valirann, along with a couple of good winners over fences in Britain this season, Forward Plan, winner of the Coral Trophy at Kempton and Knappers Hill, winner of the Rising Stars Novices’ Chase at Wincanton.
While none of the first three dams in Panda Boy’s pedigree raced themselves, they’ve all produced winning jumpers, including a Grade 1 winner at Aintree. That was Garruth, a half-brother to Panda Boy’s dam, who won the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle by a distance in desperate ground in 2001, the year when Red Marauder and Smarty were the only ones to complete without mishap in the National. Garruth didn’t reach the same heights over fences but confirmed he had plenty of stamina, including when narrowly beaten in the Southern National at Fontwell.
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MAHLER MISSION
Mahler – Finnow Turkle (Turtle Island)
Coral Gold Cup runner-up Mahler Mission promises to stay beyond three and a quarter miles and he might already have done so had he not fallen two out in last season’s National Hunt Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham when looking the most likely winner. His sire Mahler was a smart stayer on the Flat, winning the Queen’s Vase and finishing placed in the St Leger and Melbourne Cup, and has sired a number of good staying chasers including The Big Dog who was a good fifth in last year’s Grand National after finishing third in the Welsh equivalent.
While Mahler Mission fetched just €4,200 as an unbroken three-year-old, he boasts a better jumping pedigree on his dam’s side than that would suggest with some stout stayers among his relatives. His unraced dam, for example, is a half-sister to Murchu, who won the Porterstown Handicap Chase over the Irish National course and distance, and to the useful if lazy Buachaill Alainn who won the Durham National at Sedgefield.
Also, Mahler Mission’s great grandam Goolagong was a half-sister to Lord Browndodd who was only a couple of lengths off the lead jumping the last in the 1978 Grand National before finishing seventh to Lucius.
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