Mercer praying Joe makes cut Keith Mercer is praying Joes Edge makes the cut for the John Smith´s Grand National at Aintree on Saturday. Ferdy Murphy´s charge gave Mercer a real thrill when landing the Scottish National back in 2005, but is the 44th horse in the list following Monday´s confirmation stage. Joes Edge beat fellow Aintree hopeful Cornish Rebel by the narrowest of margins at Ayr three years ago, but needs a minimum of four horses to drop out if he is to run at the weekend. Reflecting on his Scottish National win, Mercer said: "He´s given me my biggest win so far so he´s been very good to me. "He was very, very tough that day as Cornish Rebel got past him and he battled back to get it on the line. "He seems in good form and hopefully we can go well again. I´m very lucky to be riding him." Joes Edge was sent off an 8-1 co-favourite in the Grand National 12 months ago but was pulled up by Graham Lee. "He obviously didn´t run to his best last year and I think you just have to draw a line through that," Mercer told At The Races. "He won the William Hill Trophy before but in the National he just didn´t run his race. "I haven´t schooled him but from what I´ve seen he seems to be in good order. "I´ve ridden him round there in the Becher Chase before and he gave me a great ride. The quicker the ground the better."
