Williams relaxed over National requirements for potential Potters Corner partner

Jack Tudor will need to ride another three winners over fences in order to qualify to maintain his partnership with Coral Welsh National winner Potters Corner in the Randox Health Grand National.

It is a stipulation of the Grand National conditions that jockeys must have ridden at least 15 winners in chases or hurdle races, and that no fewer than ten of them are in chases.

Tudor, only 17 and still claiming 5lb, has had 21 winners, but only seven of them have been over fences. He might well have reached ten by April 4, but he would not be allowed to claim at Aintree in any case and Williams is in no rush to make any decisions.

Trainer Christian Williams, who was second on Royal Auclair in the 2005 Grand National, said: “There’s no panic – if Jack qualifies he qualifies, if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be, but we won’t be losing sleep over it.

"I’m proud of the way we’ve dealt with Jack this year, and I don’t think his profile would have been raised so much anywhere else in the country, but he’s only 17 and he wouldn’t be able to claim if he rode there.

"Jack suits the horse, but it will be a tricky decision and not one we will be making in February. I’ll speak to the owners nearer the day.”

Jack Tudor (centre): big-race win on Potters Corner in the Welsh National in DecemberCredit: Getty Images

First stop for Potters Corner in an unconventional Aintree preparation will be a third trip to Auteuil for a hurdle race the week before Cheltenham, and Williams faces a similar dilemma there.

Williams, who will learn what weight Potters Corner will have to carry when he attends the Grand National weights launch in Liverpool on Tuesday, said: “He’s going to Auteuil for a Listed hurdle over two and three-quarter miles on the Saturday before Cheltenham, and we’ll have to consider whether we should be asking James Reveley or Felix De Giles to ride there, or to stick with Jack, as it’s quite a specialist’s track.”

He added: “We like to do things our own way and Potters Corner has run quite well out there twice before. That was over two and a quarter miles, and he should be much better over the longer distance.

"It’s a good prize for what’s not always a great race and I thought it would be a nice angle for getting a run into him.”

Read more if you like this:

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