Ms Parfois has been ruled out of the 2019 Grand National after sustaining an injury to her foot. The Anthony Honeyball-trained runner – who has been as short as 16/1 on the outright market – looked set to appear in the world’s most famous steeplechase after finishing in second position under a large weight in the Midlands National, however a foot issue, coupled with a lack of rain forecast before the Grand National, have combined to force connections into a decision as to whether or not she should appear in the big race, a decision which clearly had to err on the side of caution.
Honeyball said: “It’s a combination of factors. She’s had an infection in her foot and I thought by now she’d be A1. That might come right but with the drying ground and dry forecast, we’re not going to confirm her today.
“Her foot is going the right way and we might be okay on that score but I wanted to take her up to Lambourn with Regal Encore on Saturday to jump the National fences and, when we missed that, I just thought we were getting on the back foot.
“We’re not as disappointed as we should be because we feel the ground will not be right for her anyway and that cushions the blow.”
Ms Parfois finished second in the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham in 2018 and may possibly appear sometime this spring, an appearance in the Welsh National the main aim for next season. Honeyball added: “She’ll be entered in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown but it would have to be wet. If it ended up wet at Perth at the end of April there is a Listed race for mares, so that would be a possible too.”
