Tom Scudamore: ‘I’d like to think Mighty Thunder has an outstanding chance in the Coral Scottish Grand National.’
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Coral ambassador reflects on the Grand National and looks ahead to his rides at Ayr on Sunday
In this game you have to get over disappointments quickly, and by the time I’d got to Plumpton on Sunday I’d managed to get over the disappointment of Cloth Cap in the Grand National.
In all honesty I knew our fate early on, as he was gurgling away, and while you hope it will somehow stop, of course it won’t, and it was a straightforward decision to pull him up, as there will be plenty more big days to come for this fellow I’m sure.
It was great for the sport that Rachael Blackmore made history, in the weighing room she’s simply regarded as a top jockey, it’s just in the last few weeks she’s shown the rest of the world how good she is.
The other big story of the week is the continuing battle for the jockeys’ title. First and foremost both Harry [Skelton] and Brian [Hughes] will want to stay fit, as we all know how quickly that can change in this sport.
Brian has been a worthy champion and clearly won’t give up the championship lightly, but with Harry coming in for rides from Paul Nicholls in the absence of Harry Cobden and Bryony Frost, as well as having his brother Dan behind him, I think the bookmakers have it right in making Harry favourite, as they are numerically the two most powerful yards in the country.
Dead Right is still lightly raced and clearly not the easiest to get to the track, but he ran OK in a really competitive race at Cheltenham last month, without ever getting involved.
As I say he’s had his issues, but if he can step up and run to his best form, we should see more from him here.
I picked up the ride on Cloth Cap earlier in the season as a spare, and it’s a similar theme here. I feel for Blair Campbell, who would have ridden Mighty Thunder.
He’s done really well on the horse so I’ll be speaking to him beforehand, and obviously I’m delighted to have been given the ride. He won the Edinburgh National over an extended trip, so this stamina test will suit him, and I thought his second place in the Midlands National last month was a cracking run also, as that was a tough, competitive race.
Another plus is that Lucinda’s [Russell] horses are in great form, so he ticks a lot of boxes, and I’d like to think he’s got an outstanding chance. As a jockey you have to put your emotion to one side and concentrate on the job in hand, but clearly it would be extra special to do it for Dad [assistant trainer Peter Scudamore] and Lucinda.
Tom
