More Of That will be Jonjo O’Neill’s main challenger in the Grand National and he is confident his former Cheltenham champion can do the business on his maiden run at Aintree.
When Jonjo O’Neill claimed at the start of this season that More Of That was the best horse he has ever trained, punters all over Britain and Ireland pulled their wallets out of the pockets, awaiting the first chance to lump on More Of That when he made his return to action.
The nine-year-old produced one of the best performances in recent Cheltenham Festival history back in 2014, when he edged out the all-conquering Annie Power to claim the Stayers’ Hurdle title. After spending a year on the treatment table, he returned in good form during the 2015/16 National Hunt season, rounding off an encouraging novice chasing season with a third-placed finish behind Blaklion and Shaneshill in the RSA.
O’Neill’s extravagant claims came a week before his charge began this new season back at Cheltenham and he was the firm favourite for the BetVictor Gold Cup on his seasonal reappearance. What followed was a surprisingly weak performance – More Of That failed to get into his running and was swallowed up by the large chasing pack before eventually being pulled up.
Over the next few months, his form continued to slide. He was comprehensively beaten by Josses Hill and Tea For Two in the Peterborough Chase, he finished a distant sixth in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown, before returning to Ireland premier track for a crack at their Gold Cup, where he unseated Mark Walsh at the last fence.
O’Neill was so worried about his stable stars form, that the Cross Country Chase was considered a viable, easy option for More Of That at the Cheltenham Festival and a good way to pull his charge out of the limelight. But there were definite signs of recovery in the Irish Gold Cup – where he had every chance of challenging the leaders going into his fateful last leap – and O’Neill decided to stick to his original plan.
More Of That took his rightful place at the starting line in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and, even though he never threatened the runners at the front of the field, his sixth place finish was enough to convince Jonjo that his charge was back on top form and that the Grand National would be the perfect place for him to complete a stunning return to the top of the horse racing world.
“He is a class horse just like Don’t Push It,” said O’Neill, when talking to the Daily Mail on Tuesday afternoon. “More Of That has probably lost a little bit of speed but he is going to come here in really grand form.”
Don’t Push It handed Jonjo O’Neill his first ever victory in the Grand National when he carried the green and gold of J.P. McManus into the winners’ enclosure in 2010. He is also famous for handing legendary jockey, A.P. McCoy his one and only win in the world’s most famous race, when he saddled O’Neill’s charge during that victorious run seven years ago.
At the start of last month, More Of That was barely mentioned in any Aintree conversation. However, after showing signs of recovery in two huge chases, it’s safe to say More Of That will be a big player when he makes his Grand National debut in a few week’s time.
“He’s been really well since Cheltenham and I think he is an ideal horse for it (the Grand National). He is the right age. I can’t see anything that can beat him!”
