Goon aiming for National glory Jim Dreaper is to prepare Goonyella for a crack at the Crabbie's Grand National after believing his young staying chaser had a valid excuse for a below-par run at Chepstow. The trainer is convinced a long and arduous journey to England caused the seven-year-old to run flat in the Welsh Grand National, and Dreaper would still love to take him back across the Irish Sea for the Aintree spectacular on April 5. "He'd be near enough the bottom of the weights for Aintree. Nowadays there are so many proper horses - 140-plus types - that run in it, so he may not get in, but he's being aimed at it," said the County Dublin handler. "We're hoping to run him in the Grand National and he'll have a run somewhere before that in mid-February. "Where hasn't been decided yet as he's having a bit of a break since his Chepstow episode, where he ran a bit below par. "We think that was partly because of the travelling - he had 20 hours of travelling on the Thursday and that didn't help. "He ran a bit flat. He was basically in the same position throughout the race. He was always 10 or 15 lengths off the leading group and he just couldn't get any closer. "We couldn't find any other reason apart from the travelling. His departure was delayed because of the weather and then he had to go all the way up to Belfast and over to Stranraer and then a long, long drive down to Chepstow on the Thursday before the Saturday. "It may just have knocked the edge off him."
