McGrath reunited with Santini for Aintree task Jeremiah McGrath is excited about getting back on board Santini in the William Hill Many Clouds Chase at Aintree on Saturday. The 29-year-old will come in for the ride on last season’s Gold Cup runner-up in the Grade Two with his regular rider, Nico de Boinville, set to partner stablemate Altior in the Betfair Tingle Creek at Sandown on the same day. It will be the first time McGrath has partnered Santini since steering him to victory in the Grade Two Ballymore Classic Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2018. McGrath said: “I won a Grade Two on him at Cheltenham going back a few years ago when he was only just coming on the scene. “He has been a very good horse since and I’m delighted to be getting the call up to ride him next weekend. “The assistant trainer Billy Aprahamian sits on him most days as he takes a bit of knowing, but I will probably have a sit on him during the week or pop him over five or 10 fences to get a feel of him again.” The Cheltenham Festival winning rider reports Santini to have taken a significant step forward from a recent racecourse gallop alongside stablemate Beware The Bear at Newbury. He added: “He has come on a lot for that gallop. He has never been an exuberant horse. “Even that day when I won on him at Cheltenham I was off the bridle on him a long way out. “He probably looks like he makes hard work of it but he always has plenty in the locker.” Santini has saved his best efforts for Cheltenham in the past, however McGrath feels a return to a flat track should not prove an inconvenience. He added: “We need to start him off somewhere this season and we need to get a few more miles on the clock before he goes back to Cheltenham and try go one better in the Gold Cup. “He is a hard enough horse to place, which is probably a good thing as he is so talented, but it will be a nice starting point for him.”
