Nigel Twiston-Davies has not only backed himself to win a third Grand National in April, he has persuaded his former stable jockey to help him achieve it. Diary can reveal that Carl Llewellyn, just short of his 44th birthday, is likely to make a one-off return to steeplechase riding aboard one of his old boss’s runners at Aintree.
Llewellyn, whose two National wins came on Party Politics and Earth Summit, is two years into a training career and restricts his riding engagements to bumper horses from his own Lambourn yard. The idea of a romantic comeback to fences, however, was mooted by Twiston-Davies over a long lunch last week.
“I thought Nigel was joking at first but it was early in the lunch and I soon realised he was serious,” Llewellyn said yesterday. “I still have a full licence and I won’t have a runner myself, so I’m thinking hard about it. I wouldn’t come back over fences for any other trainer, or in any other race, but if Nigel wants to put me on a good one it will be hard to resist.”
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Twiston-Davies, who struck a 25-1 wager with Ladbrokes on Tuesday that one of his four likely runners will win, is hopeful his friend will agree. “Carl is brilliant round Aintree and I don’t think age comes into it,” he said.
“At this stage, Paddy Brennan will be on Fundamentalist and David England on Naunton Brook, so Carl could ride either Knowhere or Ollie Magern.”
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As the last of a generation, Llewellyn experienced the days when jockeys were, shall we say, more sociable in their habits. The onset of a more professional attitude, though, has never been supported or supervised in the manner other sportsmen take for granted — hence the general welcome for a committee that meets for the first time tomorrow.
Titled the Welfare and Training Group and chaired by Morag Gray, its broad remit covers everything from protective equipment to remounting but is likely to prioritise lifestyle issues, such as diet and nutrition, drugs and alcohol.
“The welfare of these guys is important, yet in racing we have gone from year to year passing the buck,” Gray says. “Even in individual sports like cycling and tennis, there is a team ethos and jockeys are just about the only group of elite sportsmen that have had no umbrella support in such matters.”
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Kieren Fallon might have benefited from such a support system earlier in his career. Too late, now, and while he awaits the outcome of his appeal against an 18-month riding ban for a second drugs offence, he continues to explore career options.
It was reported yesterday that he was to have a significant role under his old employer, Sir Michael Stoute. The master trainer, though, deflated such speculation with a stable statement detailing the limitations of his offer. “I had a discussion with Kieren Fallon last night,” Stoute said. “If he bases himself in Newmarket, I would be delighted to have him ride work on a regular basis.”
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Folkestone is straining to complete the restoration of its original stand in time for the highlight of its jumps season on February 27. If time defeats them, and the new restaurants fail to open, it may be just as well that the inaugural Kent National is to be sponsored by Stop24. This curiously named company runs the largest motorway service area in Britain, recently opened just up the road from the racecourse at junction 11 of the M20. Convenient, then, not just for those stranded by Operation Stack but also for hungry racegoers.
This is a week of poignant anniversaries — 50 years since the Munich Air Disaster, 25 since the kidnap of Shergar. Both have spawned an avalanche of media reminiscence but the endless claims and counterclaims regarding Shergar prove only one thing. The mystery never has been satisfactorily solved. And perhaps it is best left that way.