Royal connections aid Monbeg Dude

IF Monbeg Dude wins the £1m Crabbie’s Grand National, much of the credit will go to the Queen’s grand-daughter Zara Phillips.
Mike Tindall (left) and James Simpson-Daniel with Monbeg Dude.Mike Tindall (left) and James Simpson-Daniel with Monbeg Dude.
Mike Tindall (left) and James Simpson-Daniel with Monbeg Dude.

For, according to her World Cup-winning husband Mike Tindall, it was Phillips – a top-class equestrian – who spotted flaws in the horse’s jumping when he won the Welsh National in January last year.

Now the horse is 20-1 third favourite for the world’s greatest steeplechase thanks to his Royal connections.

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“After the Welsh National, Zara said he was not quite respecting his fences and was lazy with his jumping,” explained Otley-born Tindall yesterday.

“So she started doing some pole work with him and getting him sharp on his feet. The progression is there to see, now he bounces over his fences. He travels a lot better now and is conserving his energy and speed.

“He goes to Gatcombe most Mondays to do it, in the outdoor arena. He was there a couple of days ago and will go on Monday ahead of Aintree.”

If Monbeg Dude does conquer Aintree after his creditable fifth place finish in Doncaster’s Sky Chase, Tindall – and his rugby playing co-owners James Simpson-Daniel and Nicky Robinson – will look back with bewilderment at the hazy events in January 2010 when they ended up bidding £12,000 for an unheralded horse that no-one appeared to want.

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“It was not an intentional thing in any shape or form when we bought the horse,” said Tindall as he watched his horse of a lifetime on the gallops yesterday at the Ross-on-Wye yard of trainer Michael Scudamore.

“We were extremely lucky to get him and I haven’t tried to buy another, I think we used all our luck when we got this horse. He’s been brilliant for us.

“James, me and Zara were at the sale with Scu and he was an impulse buy, all the other horses that night made £20,000-plus so I thought I would be out-bid.

“But the bidding suddenly stopped with him. Zara wasn’t happy when I got landed with him! I went to look at him in the stable and he looked tiny. We then had to find a way of transporting him so Scu had to drive home and come back with the box.

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“It took a while for us to work out the horse but he’d won a point-to-point in Ireland and is a battler. I don’t know much about horses but one thing I learned from Zara with eventers is that if you have one that tries you are 90 per cent there and he is a trier.”

The anecdote prompts a chuckle from Simpson-Daniel, Tindall’s team-mate at Gloucester.

“When The Lord (Tindall) started bidding I tried to remind him he wasn’t at a charity auction bidding £20 for a rugby ball! I got a kick under the table from my wife when I said I’d take a share,” said the former England wing, who was educated at Sedbergh School.

“He’s been a very special horse and it’s been a dream for us. We bought a horse for next to nothing compared to what others spend and we have had just the most amazing time.”

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Meanwhile Scudamore, 30, confirmed that top Irish jockey Paul Carberry, the man in the saddle for the Welsh National win, will partner Monbeg Dude.

Scudamore’s grandfather Michael senior won the race 55 years ago aboard Oxo and the young trainer is not short of confidence, even though he has just 15 horses in training.

“A lot has come together with the horse and Zara’s input has been huge,” he said. “Her work has just made him a little more aware where his feet are over the obstacles. That’s what eventing horses is all about – they have a completely different way of looking at it. Accuracy and speed are more the National Hunt thing while eventers look at how it is done.

“It’s great to have a runner in the race and to win would be very special. We’re trying to get him there in the best possible state. The rest is in the lap of the gods.”

Meanwhile, Kim Bailey’s Sky Bet Chase winner The Rainbow Hunter will be ridden by Aidan Coleman who was unseated from the horse in last year’s National.

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