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Welsh National winner Iwilldoit unlikely to run in Randox Grand National
Trainer Sam Thomas is of the opinion that there is only a small chance that Welsh National winner Iwilldoit will play a part in the 2022 Randox Grand National on Saturday, 9th April.
Eight-year-old Iwilldoit gave former jump jockey Sam Thomas his biggest win since he turned trainer when triumphing in the Chepstow contest last week. The nine-length win in the three-and-a-quarter race was the runner’s third victory in four outings over fences, however the Lisvane-based trainer feels that the Diamond Racing-owned gelding remains too inexperienced to tackle the Grand National fences at Aintree and any plans to celebrate his excellent win at Chepstow have thus far been put on hold.
The trainer said: “It has been a bit of a whirlwind. We haven’t had a big celebration yet, but we will have to plan a get-together with everyone involved, but in this industry nothing ever stops. We haven’t had the time to celebrate just yet.
“Iwilldoit is up 9lb to a mark of 149 now. He is absolutely fine and has come out of the race fine, and we haven’t made any plans whatsoever really. We will have a chat with the owners and make a bit of a gameplan, really.”
Sam Thomas is no stranger to success on the biggest stages, several top-class wins in the saddle including Cheltenham Gold Cup success on Denman, however the Welshman believes that the Aintree marathon isn’t on the agenda for Iwilldoit in just three months’ time.
“There is a small possibility he might go for the Grand National, but I would imagine that might be next season if anything,” he said.
“He is still fairly inexperienced and no disrespect to Chepstow fences – they are nice fences – but our horse just has a jumping style where he just flicks through his fences and I’m not sure he will be quite ready for the test of the bigger fences at Aintree just yet. We have got lots of options, though. That’s the main thing.”