Rembrandt out of National picture
Sir Rembrandt has been ruled out of Saturday’s John Smith’s Grand National after a last-minute setback.
Trainer Robert Alner has confirmed the 10-year-old will not be declared for the Aintree race after pulling out lame on Thursday morning.
He said: “Unfortunately, it is a 48-hour declarations race and he just came out a bit lame this morning.
“Andrew (Thornton) galloped him yesterday and everything was fine, nothing wrong at all, but he is just a little bit lame for whatever reason now and I just can’t take the chance in a race like that.
“I can’t see the cause of the lameness at the moment and we won’t really know until the vet has seen him but it could be something in his foot.
“I think that will be it for the season now as there is very little left for him.”
Sir Rembrandt had been as low as 14-1 with Coral for the four-and-a-half-mile marathon after finishing a creditable seventh in the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup last time.
