Blacklion out of Grand National Blaklion has been ruled out of the Randox Health Grand National after suffering a setback. The 10-year-old was set to make his debut for trainer Phil Kirby and owners Darren and Annaley Yates at Aintree having been bought out of Nigel Twiston-Davies’ yard in February. However, Kirby took him out of the extended four-and-a-quarter-mile feature on Friday morning and the 2017 Becher Chase winner may now be finished for the season. He said: “He’s got a back joint problem and he won’t be running next week. “I’m disappointed, the owners really wanted to have a National runner and we’ve done everything we can to get him there in one piece. “It’s not something that will stop him forever, but most likely for this season.”
