Big Fella warms up for National Big Fella Thanks warms up for a third crack at the John Smith's Grand National with a prep run at Newbury tomorrow. The Harry Findlay-owned gelding goes for the Wiltshire County Show Supporting Greatwood Gold Cup Handicap Chase, a race he won 12 months ago. He then went on to finish fourth at Aintree, two places better than in 2009, when trained by Paul Nicholls. Although he has since moved to North Yorkshire handler Ferdy Murphy, all roads lead again to Merseyside next month. "He seems well and we're very happy with him, but I just hope the ground doesn't ride too holding. We'd like a bit of good ground for him," said Murphy. "He came out of his Ascot race (fourth to Riverside Theatre) really well. We'd have preferred to have had another week between races but it gives us enough time to get him ready for Aintree. "He'll come on for the run, but he should run a good race. He likes the track and he's really well in himself. The timing is just right to get another run into him. He was a bit fresh at Ascot so that should help him."
