Jack Tudor will be required to ride three more winners over fences should he wish to qualify for the Randox Health Grand National and continue his partnership with Welsh National victor Potters Corner on 4th April.
It is one of the Grand National conditions that all jockeys taking part in the race must have ridden no less than 15 winners in either hurdle or chase races with at least ten of these being chases.
17-year-old Tudor still claims 5lb and has had 21 winners in the past, however only seven of these have been over fences. He might possibly have increased this to ten by 4th April although he would be unable to claim at Aintree and Christian Williams certainly isn’t in a hurry to make decisions.
The trainer, who finished second in the 2005 Grand National aboard Royal Auclair, said: “There’s no panic – if Jack qualifies he qualifies, if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be, but we won’t be losing sleep over it.
“I’m proud of the way we’ve dealt with Jack this year, and I don’t think his profile would have been raised so much anywhere else in the country, but he’s only 17 and he wouldn’t be able to claim if he rode there.
“Jack suits the horse, but it will be a tricky decision and not one we will be making in February. I’ll speak to the owners nearer the day.”
Potters Corner will make a third appearance to Auteuil a week prior to the Cheltenham Festival and the trainer will be facing a similar dilemma in this hurdle race.
He added: “He’s going to Auteuil for a Listed hurdle over two and three-quarter miles on the Saturday before Cheltenham, and we’ll have to consider whether we should be asking James Reveley or Felix De Giles to ride there, or to stick with Jack, as it’s quite a specialist’s track.
“We like to do things our own way and Potters Corner has run quite well out there twice before. That was over two and a quarter miles, and he should be much better over the longer distance.
“It’s a good prize for what’s not always a great race and I thought it would be a nice angle for getting a run into him.”
Grand National Odds
Potters Corner is a best ante-post price of 25/1 Grand National Odds in the 2020 Randox Health Grand National.
