Aintree hero Bindaree bows out
Dual National winner Bindaree has been retired shortly before his 12th birthday.
Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, the chestnut gelding landed the Grand National in 2002, added the Welsh equivalent a year and a half later and was being prepared for a fifth consecutive tilt at the Aintree spectacular.
Twiston-Davies told the Racing Post: “Little problems with his hind leg were interfering in the run-up to this year’s Grand National and rather than struggling on, we decided to give up and retire him.
“He doesn’t owe us anything and there is no point in risking him.
“He will stay here at Naunton and, while he won’t be a hack for me, he will have a very nice retirement and will want for nothing.”
A winner of nine races in his career including two Grade Twos and the Grade One Challow Novice Hurdle, Twiston-Davies owes Bindaree a special debt of gratitude as his Grand National success came at a lean time for Gloucestershire handler.
He added: “He is the horse who stopped me from retiring and none of this would be happening now if it weren’t for him.
“I never had any lows while training him – he has always run well, always been lovely and has been the figurehead of the yard.”
Bindaree’s final race was last month at Aintree, when he was eighth in the totesport Becher Chase.
