Sparky May heads to Aintree Sparky May will head to next week's Grand National meeting at Aintree after chasing home wonder-mare Quevega at the Cheltenham Festival. The six-year-old headed to Prestbury Park unbeaten in four hurdling starts and while she was no match for the winner of the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle, Sparky May performed admirably to come home best of the rest. She is now set to take on the boys in novice company. "All being well, we're going to go to Liverpool and the weather will decide which race she runs in," said trainer Pat Rodford. "If the weather stays dry and the ground is good, I think she'll probably run in the three-mile novice hurdle on the Friday (Sefton Novices' Hurdle). "If they get a lot of rain, then she might just stick to two and a half miles (Mersey Novices' Hurdle) on the Saturday. "She seems to have come out of Cheltenham very well, although it's hard to tell until you run them again. "People say a lot of horses who run well at Cheltenham don't run so well at Aintree, but it's too early to be turning her out and I think we'll have another go. "We were obviously delighted with her run at Cheltenham. "Quevega might have even won the Champion Hurdle if she'd ran in that, so there was no disgrace in finishing second to her."
