Delusionofgrandeur was entered to run at Catterick in the North Yorkshire Grand National on Thursday 11th of Jan.
It was touch and go as to whether or not we declared him, and so the final decision was left to Sue and her head lad Ryan, who opted for him NOT to run.
Fast forward now to after the race, and the dust had settled, when, in my opinion, it became clear the right decision was made.
Why? because had Delusionofgrandeur lined up, Sues other horse in the race, I Just Know, would have been carrying only 11st 3lbs compared to our 12st.
I Just Know won the race carrying 11st 10lbs, and was mightily impressive the way he did it.
The horse jumped brilliantly throughout in the hands of the excellent Sean Quinlan, and never looked like getting beaten.
Its now hypothetical as to what the result would have been with DoG participating, but whatever the answer may be, it would, in my opinion, have been a very hard task for our fella, and far too tough an assignment for him so soon after his extremely hard race in the Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby on Boxing Day.
My conclusion would be that ….ON THE DAY… using the hypothetical weight differences, it would have been no shame to finish 2nd to such an impressive performance from Ray Scholeys horse, and congratulations to Mr Scholey.
Prior to the race, my belief was, with a run, even carrying 12 st., DoG was a good thing.
Prize money for finishing 2nd never even entered my head.
So what the hell do I know !! except to say it was a good call from team Smith !!
Musselburgh here we come on 3rd Feb.
