- The Jonjo O’Neill-trained horse is owned by Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman.
- Monbeg Genius is not one of the assets frozen during the £200m PPE investigation
- Only six of the steeplechasers are trained in Britain, including Corach Rambler.
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A potential source of racing embarrassment has been removed with Monbeg Genius among the 22 horses eliminated from the Randox Grand National in yesterday’s lost final stage.
The Jonjo O’Neill-trained gelding is owned by Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman, who have had a restraining order placed on some of their assets during an investigation into a £200m contract to supply PPE to the NHS during the Covid pandemic.
Monbeg Genius was not among the frozen assets and the sport feared a public backlash if the gelding had won the £1m steeplechase on April 13. The eight-year-old looked like a great player after his third title in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in November. but he had lately performed poorly in starts at Kelso and the Cheltenham Festival.
As expected, Shark Hanlon eliminated Hewick, the winner of the King George VI Chase, and Paul Nicholls eliminated Threeunderthrufive, who is aiming for the Bet365 Sandown Gold Cup.
The Dan Skelton-trained mare Galia Des Liteaux is now the 34th final runner guaranteed a start in the reduced field size in operation this year.
Possible relief for racing comes as Monbeg Genius eliminated from Grand National
The gelding is owned by Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman (pictured in Cheltenham in 2019).
Only six of the horses guaranteed to start at Aintree are trained in Britain, including last year’s winner Corach Rambler.
Panda Boy, with a Martin Brassil-trained and well-backed 12-1 shot, is number 35 and needs a DNF to get a run.
Only six of the 34 guaranteed starters are British-trained, but they include last year’s winner, the Lucinda Russell-trained Corach Rambler, the 5-1 favourite.