Hyland fling beyond wildest dreams for excited owners

The Grand National is the well-documented one major omission from the Seven Barrows trophy cabinet. But a trio of Merseyside regulars who share an Aintree dream could have unearthed the ideal candidate to finally crack Nicky Henderson’s Merseyside hoodoo.

Hyland, the diminutive grey who has defied expectations, is igniting dreams of a victory all connected would dearly cherish.

For one of Hyland’s owners, Paul Humphreys, it is an event which has a special place in his heart, one which was always destined to be in the DNA of a man born on the same day as the race’s most famous equine name.

Humphreys said: “I was born on the same day as Red Rum, so if that’s not an omen I don’t know what is and it’s been in the blood ever since a young age.

“It’s the race that lit my fire for racing when I was a little boy and I would sit on my grandfather’s chair and pretend to ride the Grand National.”

Joining Humphreys on his journey with Hyland are great friends Jonathan Sweeney and Richard Lord, two other members of the Ten From Seven syndicate, which once included the late John Sillett, Coventry City’s FA Cup-winning manager.

“Four of us owners go to Aintree ever year and we fly in by helicopter, but it will be very different if we have a runner in the race as well,” continued Humphreys.

“We’ve been on tenterhooks a little bit sweating to get a run, but we just kept nibbling away to get inside that top 34. It could be very exciting.

“David Sumpter started the syndicate donkey’s years ago and he got me involved with the Ten From Seven.

“It is basically a group of like-minded individuals with a horse at Seven Barrows and over time we have lost a few people and a few more have come in – sadly we lost John Sillett, but his wife Jean is still in the syndicate and she is a lovely lady.

“It’s been whittled down a little bit and I think now it is only eight from seven, but the name Ten From Seven lives on.”

For fellow syndicate member Sweeney, it was Flat racing that saw him bit by the racing bug. But after strong coaxing from Humphreys, he was soon persuaded to join the “lucky bus” with Hyland.

Sweeney explained: “I’m completely new to the jumps scene, I started in small syndicates on the Flat with Mick and Jack Channon.

“It’s where I met Paul and we were both involved with Caernarfon, who was fourth in the 1000 Guineas then third in the Oaks, and we always say I caught the lucky bus, as I had Caernarfon and then my first jumps horse was Hyland.

“Paul had been trying to persuade me to get involved with a jumps horse for ages and the rest is history. Paul’s the oracle when it comes to racing and he’s had his spreadsheet out for months working out how many needed to be scratched to get in the National.”

When Hyland debuted, his enthusiastic owners were warned not to start dreaming of Gold Cups, with summer afternoons at Uttoxeter deemed a more suitable ambition.

A few years on and he ticks plenty of boxes for the once-a-year backers.

Humphreys continued: “Nicky said to us he’s not an expensive horse, but he’s a lovely lad and you’ll have a bit of fun with him. He said not to get excited, but he might end up being a nice summer jumper who pays his way. No one told Hyland that, though.

“One thing we do know about him is he jumps and he stays – and if you are going to win these big staying handicaps, they are the things you need to do better than anything else.

“He’s won twice at Cheltenham and the only horses to beat him since then are The Jukebox Man, who is obviously an extremely talented horse, and Katate Dori, who stole a march on him when we were giving weight at Kempton.”

That day at Kempton was the moment National aspirations truly began to take shape as, exposed to the helter-skelter of a big-field handicap for the first time over fences, Hyland defied testing ground and a lacklustre start to finish an eyecatching second under Nico de Boinville.

However, after one lap of the Sunbury track, Henderson could have been forgiven for thinking his National woes would continue before he had even got to Aintree.

Humphreys said: “Nicky said his Grand National dream was over after he hit the fourth and was shuffled to the back. He was saying ‘pull him up Nico, pull him up’.

“Of course, Hyland carried on and passed plenty of tired horses, finishing the race really strongly in really testing ground.

“Nico got off him and said that was the best trial the horse could ever have had for the National, he was thinking of pulling him up at the start of the second circuit but he picked up the bridle and he just had to let him go.

“That was the first time he has been taken back and asked to pass horses, so as far as a trial for the National is concerned, yes we’d have loved the £80,000, but other than that it couldn’t have gone better.”

History could soon prove Kempton was in fact crucial to the Hyland story, as Sweeney added: “If you watch the Kempton performance, he was never going to beat the winner, but he left the rest of the field well behind once he got going on the second circuit and I think if he gets his ground at Aintree and can get a clear round, he’s going to be in the mix.

“I can’t tell you how brilliant Nicky and Sophie (Henderson, wife) are as people and then his record in racing stands up against anyone’s. Obviously he’s never had that National winner, but we’re all hoping Hyland can be that one for him.”

Like all involved, Humphreys is full of praise for Henderson and De Boinville.

“Nicky is not shy in reminding everyone the only National he has ever won is the American one!” he said.

“Clearly it is a race Nicky would love to win, as would Nico, and they’re both truly wonderful people. Nico has only ever been positive about Hyland, tinged with a touch of surprise afterwards. When the TV asked him about Hyland once, he said ‘you can’t not love this little horse, he is a pleasure to ride’.

“We’ve gone on a journey from a horse with very low expectations to one that Nicky Henderson thinks has a chance of winning a Grand National. We’ve got this diminutive little grey who might just do it.”