Definitly a chance for Cook to shine in National

He was already in arrears when 100-1 outsider Pablo Du Charmil fell at the second in 2010, the year AP McCoy finally conquered Aintree on Don’t Push It.

Now the rider is primed for the ride on Definitly Red, one of the ante-post favourites after an emphatic victory in Doncaster’s BetBright Grimthorpe Chase on Saturday.

This is race that The Last Samuri won 12 months before finishing a brave second in the National to Rule The World.

Ironically, it was The Last Samuri – carrying top weight under David Bass – who plugged on best of all to finish a gallant but distant second to Definitly Red, who is trained at Malton by Brian Ellison and owned by Tickhill’s Phil Martin.

Back in third was Sue Smith’s Wakanda, a horse that Cook regularly rides and whom he was aboard when Definitly Red won Wetherby’s Rowland Meyrick Chase on Boxing Day under Henry Brooke.

The jockey told The Yorkshire Post that he was grateful to Smith, and her husband Harvey, for allowing him to switch to Definitly Red, whom he has partnered before.

“He didn’t stop. He galloped all the way to the line,” said Cook. “He jumped fantastic and he travelled through the race so easily.

“We went a good gallop and he quickened up smartly. He’s probably one of the best I’ve ridden. Fingers crossed, he can have a good chance in the National. I’ve been trying all year to get back on him, but Sue and Harvey were very understanding.”

Cook intends to school Definitly Red once a week over replica Aintree fences that will be constructed in Malton shortly.

Like Ellison, he wants this progressive horse to experience them and not land too steeply.

If he did, he would be conceding ground – and momentum – to his 39 rivals.

“If it was a normal chase, he would have a smashing chance,” said Cook. “It’s those big green fences. You never know until they try.”

Slightly rueful that he was banned for four days in addition to a two-day penalty picked up in early race – “it is what it is” – the jockey’s debrief noted the strength of Definitly Red’s form.

He was second in Wetherby’s Towton Novices Chase in February, 2016, to Blaklion, who went on to win the Grade One RSA Chase at Cheltenham and is now a leading National contender for Nigel Twiston-Davies.

Back in third on that day, says Cook, was a then unheralded horse called Native River, who is now favourite for this month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The aforementioned Ellison could not stop smiling in the winner’s enclosure.

A dual purpose trainer with 1,000 winners to his name, he has made no secret of his desire to win the National and his previous runner, Neptune Equester, was a respectable 13th in 2012. Definitly Red was guaranteed a run in the National when the weights came out last month. However, his mark of 10st 11lb stands and will not go up because of the Grimthorpe win, one reason why the horse’s odds were cut to 25-1.

“In the National, you need a lot of luck and if we get lucky, he could go well,” said Ellison after Definitly Red’s win.

“He travelled well, he jumped well. The plan wasn’t to hit the front that early, but he was going so well that Danny couldn’t wait. He’s won the Rowland Meyrick and now this, which is his best result so far.

“Providing he schools well over National-style fences, he’ll go to Aintree. They are building two at Malton. I can’t see why he won’t take to them as he is such a good jumper. He’s a lovely horse and has a great temperament. He’s class.”

Winning owner Phil Martin said: “That’s my biggest win. I’m not a big fan of the National but I put him in. Brian wanted to give him a Gold Cup entry but I thought that was flying high.

“We’ll go along with the National idea and see how it goes.”

For Danny Cook, getting beyond the second would be a start.