N.Z; ’chaser fails

Press, 9 March 1982, Page 28

N.Z; ’chaser fails

NZPA correspondent ' London The New Zealand steeplechaser, Megan’s Boy, turned in a- disappointing rehearsal for the Grand National when he had to be pulled up on the home turn in the Greenall Whitley Breweries Handicap at Haydock on Saturday. But Ted Carter, trainer of the former New Zealand ’chaser, said that the failure of the horse was probably’ due to a miscalculation by jockey, Colin Tinkler, who had never ridden Megan’s Boy before. Tinkler was a late replacement for a flu-ridden Jonjo O'Neill; who will have the mount in the Grand National. Tinkler pulled Megan's Boy up after he started hanging and changing legs.

. ! “Ther,e was particularly bad ground on the home turn and he thought the horse may be on the point of breaking down," Carter told NZPA. ’ However, he added, Megan’s Boy was fine after the race and had come up well. “It’s a bit of a mystery really. He doesn’t like soft ground but I’ve never known him to hang like that. “But I think we can just count the race out and put it all down to the jockey not being familiar with the horse," he said. Carter said that because Megan’s Boy had not had a full run on Saturday, it now seemed certain that he would have to have a race before the Grand National on April 3 and this would probably be the Ritz Gold Cup at Cheltenham in a fortnight.