'He's an absolute gent' - Santini's Grand National fourth delights Polly Gundry

Polly Gundry has saluted both Santini and his rider Nick Scholfield after the pair's excellent fourth in Saturday's Randox Grand National, the best finishing position of any horse trained in Britain.

Sent off at 33-1, Santini jumped and travelled superbly throughout the marathon test and despite being outpaced by winner Noble Yeats and second Any Second Now after the second-last fence, he kept on dourly to pick up £65,000 in prize-money.

Trained by Nicky Henderson when a neck second in the 2020 Cheltenham Gold Cup, the ten-year-old has been rejuvenated by a switch to Gundry's stable this season, with a highlight being his close second in the Grade 2 Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in January.

The Grand National had long been touted for Santini and Gundry was thrilled by his performance, but she was also quick to pay tribute to Scholfield's excellent ride.

Gundry said: "He got into the most lovely rhythm and did exactly as [owner] Richard Kelvin-Hughes and I asked and we'd planned. It's a whole lot different thinking of it and carrying it out so I cannot thank Nick enough for looking after our horse.

"He [Kelvin-Hughes] was a little bit nervous about his feet, they've always had problems and you have to do so much work with him as he's such a big horse. You have to spend at least a time and a half more with him to get him fit, even then I'm still lacking. It's about trying to keep his feet right while doing all that work."

Polly Gundry: thrilled with Santini's Grand National performanceCredit: Edward Whitaker

Based in Ottery St Mary, Devon, Gundry has just ten horses in her yard and the popular Santini was her first National runner, something she described as an "out-of-body experience" in the build up to the race.

There were plenty of sleepless nights in the lead up to Aintree but, after jumping with aplomb on his first go over the National fences, Santini could be granted another spin in 2023.

Gundry added: "We train him by committee with Richard and so we'll have a discussion after this but he's shown he really enjoyed it. Nick kept looking for the gaps and he kept going forward, so we'll see.

"I've gone a bit grey in the last ten months training him but I'm prepared to go a bit more grey if I'm allowed to keep him. We'll see what happens, nothing is set in stone."

Santini, a Grade 1 winner as a novice hurdler, has built up a cult-like following in recent years and Gundry added: "He's not a boring horse, he's an absolute gent. He does like to be enthused by things, so we change things."

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