Harry Redknapp faces an anxious wait to see if Shakem Up’Arry makes it into Saturday’s Grand National.
The former West Ham and Tottenham manager needs drop-outs from the field for his Cheltenham Festival winner to make the Aintree showpiece.
The UK’s ongoing inclement weather could aid its cause ahead of the final declaration on Thursday morning, with some trainers having already made it clear they will pull out their entries from the 34-strong line-up if the going does not firm up.
Like Redknapp, jockey Ben Jones is nervously waiting for updates in a bid to renew his partnership with the 10-year-old, which worked to such good effect in giving Jones his first Festival winner, in the Plate Handicap Chase, last month.
“I was originally riding the next day, so I came back to my wife and little girl and had an Indian meal that night,” he said. “I was getting videos and photos of Harry celebrating pretty strong with all the team. It’d be great to get a chance to do that again.”
Jones was drafted in to ride the horse in December for the first time and has won two of his three races on board. “I’ve been incredibly lucky for Harry,” he said. “I’ve ridden a few times for him and luckily they’ve all gone pretty well.
“He’s such a level-headed guy. When he walks into the paddock, it’s always with a smile on his face and he’s welcoming. When you ride for people like that, the weight goes off your shoulders, plus he likes to celebrate.”
As for Welsh rider Jones’s own footballing allegiance, none are with the myriad former clubs who Redknapp managed.
“I like watching the Premier League and Match of the Day and usually end up supporting who’s doing the best,” he said.
A rising star, Jones has reached 50 winners in a season for the first time in his career this season and lies in the top 10 in the jockeys’ championship.
On his debut in the National last year, he got round on 125-1 shot Francky Du Berlais but finished well down the order and, like many of his peers, it is the one race above all others he aspires to win.
“In my eyes, it’s the biggest race to win,” said Jones. “People talk of the Grand National or the Gold Cup and it’s always been the National for me.”
Born into a racing family — his father, Dai, is clerk of the course at Chepstow — tuning into the National was a mainstay each year. His first main memory of the steeplechase is not of a winner, but Balthazar King finishing runner-up 10 years ago.
And there is a family link-up on the Aintree race card, with his sister-in-law, Natalie Parker, riding in the Foxhunters’ Chase on Thursday. Of his own foray in the National, he recalls the immense tension as the race was delayed by animal rights activists.
“You need your first one in the race to tick it off the list and, if Harry gets in, you’d like to think he’d have a bit of confidence,” he said. Should he not, Jones will instead ride him in the £175,000 Topham at Aintree. “Until the final declaration, you’re biting your fingernails to find out who’s running.”
