Racing: Grand National $101 long-shot will keep plodding

Rank outsider Doc Knapp is described as possibly the slowest horse Pam Gerard has trained, but she is hopeful he will not disgrace himself in Saturday's $60,000 Grand National Steeplechase.

Gerard was on the verge of withdrawing Doc Knapp from the race at Riccarton, in Christchurch, when the horse finished last, more than 60 lengths from the winner, in last Saturday's $35,000 Ken Browne Memorial Steeplechase.

But the Canterbury trainer from Methven said the horse felt so good when she rode him in training on Monday that she had a change of heart.

"I worked him on Monday morning and he was jumping out of his skin," Gerard said yesterday. "He was right into it. His work was better than what it has ever been."

Gerard said she had previously said to her partner Tom Hazlett, who rode Doc Knapp last Saturday, that she did not want to run the horse in the Grand National merely for the sake of it.

"Before that I was going to give the race a miss. I said to Tom I'm not just running him to run 500m down the track."

Gerard said Hazlett told her Doc Knapp had been travelling well in last Saturday's race until the concluding stages.

For some unexplained reason, he started hanging then bungled one of the last fences.

"Last week he was right in it and then for some reason he hung that bad, that Tom couldn't let his head go.

"It almost looked like Tom was pulling him up but he was hanging that bad that Tom could hardly steer him. He got over the jump but by that time the rest had sprinted away.

"Tom was more than happy with him before that. Down the back straight he was doing half-pace on him. He said he thought he was going to be right in it."

Doc Knapp has not won in 24 starts. His best finish on the flat is third, while his steeplechase record is eight starts for two seconds and two thirds.

Gerard said the 5600m distance of the Grand National should suit Doc Knapp but the likelihood of a heavy track does present a query.

"He probably is better suited to a better track but he'll just keep plodding at the one pace.

"He is quite possibly the slowest horse I have ever come across, but he will keep going.

"He is a good, safe jumper. He is jumping so much better this year."

The seven-year-old gelding, however, did make a jumping mistake when last of five runners in an open class steeplechase at Timaru on July 23.

He hit a fence very hard with about 1800m to run and was on retreat soon after.

"It just knocked everything out of him," Gerard said.

"Tom said he thought he had broken his back legs, he hit them that hard."

Doc Knapp was yesterday a $101 long-shot on the TAB's fixed-odds market for the Grand National.

While Gerard agreed the horse deserved to be at long odds she said the three-figure price was tempting.

"Well I might go and take some," she said.

"He is not up to the class of some of the others. But he might just keep going and some of them might struggle in the wet going. He's bred to stay 10 miles really."

Hazlett will not ride Doc Knapp on Saturday.

He has taken the mount on the Allan Sharrock-trained Bogeyman and Gerard said she was happy for him to do so.

"I said to Tom there was no way I was going to stop you from riding a horse like Bogeyman."

Hazlett's replacement will be Auckland jockey Nathan Hanley.

Doc Knapp was amongst a field of nine when the field was declared yesterday.

There were no surprises with No Hero the topweight at 68kg.

The Grand National Hurdles will also be part of Saturday's 12-race programme after yesterday's meeting was cancelled because of waterlogged track conditions.

- NZPA