Iroko and Jagwar out to make Aintree dreams come true for training duo

To have one leading contender for the Grand National is a dream for any trainer, so to have two heading for Aintree with a genuine chance of striking gold in the world’s most famous steeplechase is the stuff of fantasy for Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero.

Although only in their fourth season as an official training partnership, Guerriero was previously assistant to Greenall and their paths first crossed during their riding days, with Guerriero notably beating Greenall into fourth place when winning the 2008 Fox Hunters’ Chase over the National fences aboard Christy Beamish.

The duo prepared Iroko to finish fourth as the 13-2 favourite for the National a year ago and 12 months on he will be joined by fellow Cheltenham Festival-winning stablemate in Jagwar, who like Iroko carries the colours of three-time Grand National-winning owner JP McManus.

“I think this is our ninth season together and we’d never have expected to have two horses like Jagwar and Iroko, especially so early in our careers,” said Guerriero, who along with Greenall trains a string of 85 horses out of their Cheshire yard.

“It’s unbelievable really, just to have two horses that good is amazing and we’re very, very lucky. They’re massive for us.

“The fact that they’re both owned by JP is unbelievable and they’re both Cheltenham Festival winners for us, which is incredible.”

Greenall in particular has a special connection with Aintree through his father Lord Daresbury, who was chairman of the track for 25 years.

“Ollie has grown up going to Aintree every year and it’s obviously still a local track now,” Guerriero continued.

“The fact Jagwar and Iroko have both come from Lord Daresbury’s crop of foals…it’s amazing how it’s all come together really.

“We’ve actually got a great picture of me and Ollie jumping The Chair upsides and I love Aintree as well. It’s a great place to go racing and have winners and obviously the biggest race of all is something you only dream about, so we’ll keep dreaming and hopefully it comes true.”

Since his fourth last year, Iroko has finished second to King George hero The Jukebox Man at Haydock and won a graduation chase at Ascot, but suffered a rare blip when finishing down the field in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on his most recent start.

A dirty scope is put forward as the reason behind that below-par effort, however, and Guerriero is confident he will show his true colours on April 11.

He said: “The horses that finished in front of us last year are getting older, as are we, but they’ve all got a few years on us and they’ve all gone up more than us in the handicap as well.

“I do think Iroko is a better horse this year, as I keep saying, and if he has improved 6lb or 7lb then he’s going to be right up behind them again. Hopefully if he gets a bit more luck in running and is a bit closer to the pace and gets a bit softer ground, it might just be the difference between that seven and a half lengths he got beaten last year.

“Last year he jumped off to try to get a position and he was just flat out. The ground was probably a big cause of that really and we do want softer ground as he’s not very quick and just keeps galloping.

“I think he’ll have learnt so much from last year, just from being in a massive field. Throughout the race he looked a bit lost and got shuffled back and his jumping was a little bit iffy. This year he’s come back and he’s travelling strongly, he knows what to do and he’s been a much more complete horse since the National last year, I feel – he’s had a wind operation – so there’s a reason he is better.

“Obviously it’s annoying what happened at Cheltenham as we just have to make sure he’s back in full health, but last year he was the fastest finisher and he was the only one closing in the last furlong on the front three. Hopefully we can just be a bit closer to the pace this time and do the same again.

“I think with experience he’ll go into the race this year and grab the bridle rather than thinking ‘oh god, what’s this?’ and backing off.

“Hopefully he goes there a much more accomplished horse and if he hadn’t gone to Cheltenham he’d still be favourite, wouldn’t he?”

Stablemate Jagwar won four times over fences last season, including a Festival success in the Plate, but the current campaign has so far been a tale of near-misses.

The seven-year-old has been placed three times in major handicaps at Cheltenham, most recently going down by half a length to another National-bound McManus horse in Johnnywho in the Ultima, a performance which has convinced connections to allow him to take his chance at Aintree.

When asked if he could split Iroko and Jagwar, Guerriero said: “I’d always rather be on Iroko myself – I just think he’s more solid. He’s been there before, he jumps and everything about him is solid.

“Jagwar is one of these horses that has so much ability and although I wouldn’t say he’s shirked it, he just makes life difficult for himself.

“At the entry stage they (McManus team) rang and said can we put him in the National, which was a surprise to be fair, not that I didn’t think he could get there, but I just thought this year maybe he’d stick to two and half (miles) and step up next year – but they said to have a go at the Ultima and see if he stays and it’s all just fallen into place.

“He won four on the bounce and won at the Festival last season and this year he’s just not improving as quick – he still is improving, but just not as rapidly as he was last year.

“He’s won a big pot and I’m sure he could win another one. He just hasn’t had it all go his way this time and he’s obviously lumping a lot of weight in decent handicaps now with a rating of 157, so it’s not easy in a handicap.

“He’s still a good horse and I’m sure he’s got a good pot in him somewhere still.”

With days to the big one counting down, Guerriero is doing his best to keep his feet on the ground, adding: “I do dream about winning it now and again, but I get nervous every time I do so I stop myself.

“I’m just trying to get through each day at the minute.”