Monty's Pass does not need to win another race Monty's Pass's National was a race he might not even have seen never mind won had he not confronted his alcoholic demons. A drop has not passed the lips for the last decade of his 48 years "It was a problem all right," he said. "I was too fond of the stuff and drink is always around horses. I got a second chance and I enjoy life much more now."Monty's Pass does not need to win another race. "That will stick in my mind for ever, to think that he did it so easily. I knew he had a chance but I could never imagine him winning that race by the distance he did."He won a few point-to-points, but if anyone had told me at that time he was going to win an Aintree National I would have said they were mad."Irish victories do not pass without Irish parties and they are still finding empties behind the curtains at the Conna Stud. "The main memory is seeing him come up the straight so far in front," he said. I know he can jump and so does everyone else who has seen him perform. In two years at Aintree [he previously conquered the huge spruces in the Topham Trophy] he hasn't touched a twig."Jimmy Mangan remains excited even by the thought of the Grand National, the day that took him from being just another rural Irish trainer into the singeing limelight. He will see a fence at schooling but he won't see a steeplechase."Running over hurdles sharpens him up It makes him quicker There is no use building big fences for Monty.
The reality kicks in during the New Year, when, in an effort to imitate the result, Mangan will imitate the preparation. The rehearsals for the most fearsome fences in racing will be conducted over hurdles."He's on holiday until New Year's Day," Mangan said "He'll be out in the field every day He loves being out It will be the same road as last year You have all seen the way he can jump. His problems are behind him, and, if I can have him in the same form that he was last year going back to Liverpool, I know that he loves it over there and he can give a big account of himself."The latest effort by Monty's Pass was a seventh placing in the Kerry National at Listowel, but that was just a false war. The gelding looks healthy enough, but there is little electricity about his work on the gallops. It may be that his grid will never be fully charged again after the Aintree experience, but the gelding is slowly recovering his vim."He's not quite there yet, but he's in great fettle," the trainer said of the horse who has just recovered from an abscess on the side of his face "He can bounce back. It may be an unusual site for pilgrimage, but the significance is clear at the boundary. |
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