McNamara out to Grab Champion Bumper headlines again

Robbie McNamara will bid to become the second person to ride and train a Champion Bumper winner when saddling his first Cheltenham Festival runner next week.

Willie Mullins did it on the same horse when he rode his own Wither Or Which to a famous bumper victory in 1996, whereas for McNamara there would be a three-year gap since he rode Dermot Weld's Silver Concorde to success in the race in 2014.

The trainer believes Quick Grabim, a 25-1 shot for Wednesday's closer, has the right attributes to deliver for him on the biggest stage of all less than a year after he took out a training licence.

“We wouldn’t be making the trip over if we didn’t think he would run well,” McNamara said. “I’m not in any way surprised to have a Cheltenham runner in my first season training because I knew the type of calibre of horse we are dealing with at home.

“I have been involved in the preparation of many Cheltenham Festival horses in the past and we have more than one horse we could have brought over. But we decided to skip it with a view of looking after them for the future.”

Quick Grabim was an easy winner of a Leopardstown bumper at Christmas before finishing midfield at Exeter last month under Noel Fehily, who will again be on board at Cheltenham.

McNamara added: “Noel will be back on him at Cheltenham and he was quite keen on us running him. He is quite bullish and we have the horse in very good form.

“He has actually surprised me with how well he has matured both physically and mentally since his first win at Leopardstown. He has grown up a lot."

McNamara's riding career was brought to a premature end when he was paralysed below the waist in a fall at Wexford in April 2015.