PNE owner Trevor Hemmings has a likely Lad going for glory

Preston North End owner Trevor Hemmings has enjoyed three successes in the Randox Health Grand National and one of his contenders for an unprecedented fourth Aintree victory in the 2019 renewal of the £1m spectacular is Lake View Lad.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Jan 2019, 06:29 BST
Updated 28th Jan 2019, 09:44 BST
Lake View Lad ridden by Henry Brooke (right) wins the Rehearsal Handicap Chase at Newcastle in DecemberLake View Lad ridden by Henry Brooke (right) wins the Rehearsal Handicap Chase at Newcastle in December
Lake View Lad ridden by Henry Brooke (right) wins the Rehearsal Handicap Chase at Newcastle in December

His three Grand National victories have come courtesy of Hedgehunter (2005), Ballabriggs (2011) and Many Clouds (2015).

If successful in April, Hemmings would become the most successful owner of all time in the Aintree spectacular.

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He currently shares the honour with James Machell, Sir Charles Assheton-Smith (previously Charles Duff) and Noel Le Mare, who famously had three victories with the legendary Red Rum in the 1970s.

Staged over four miles, two furlongs and 74 yards, with 30 fences jumped, on Saturday, April 6, the Randox Health Grand National is the world’s greatest chase and the most valuable Jump race anywhere in the world.

Entries for the 2019 Randox Health Grand National, the 172nd running, close at noon on Tuesday and will be revealed on Wednesday.

Weights for the famous G3 handicap chase are being unveiled at the Cunard Building in Liverpool on Tuesday, February 12, for the first time – the weights’ ceremony has previously been held in London.

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Nine-year-old Lake View Lad is trained near Leslie in Fife, Scotland, by Nick Alexander and was purchased by Hemmings ahead of a winning seasonal reappearance in the Listed Rehearsal Chase over just short of three miles at Newcastle on December 1.

He coped ably with the step-up in class on his latest outing at Wetherby on December 26, when he was the four-length winner of the G3 Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase over three miles.

Alexander said: “Lake View Lad is in good form and we would like to run him soon, but we have been waiting for the wet weather to arrive.

“It was brilliant to win the Rowland Meyrick and the Rehearsal Chase – a wonderful month – and I was delighted with both of his performances. He is a horse who enjoys soft ground, and heavy is also ideal for him.

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“Lake View Lad is a very good jumper. We won’t know if he stays four and a quarter miles for the National until he tries it, I don’t suppose.”

Twoprevious National winners have been trained in Scotland – Rubstic (1979) and One For Arthur (2017).

Related topics:Trevor HemmingsGrand National