Lee hopes to be back in time for Aintree

Mar 19 2008 by Chris Wright, Liverpool Daily Post

GRAND National-winning jockey Graham Lee is expected to be back in the saddle for this year’s Aintree showpiece.

Lee, who won the National on the Ginger McCain-trained Amberleigh House in 2004, has been out of action since fracturing his jaw in several places following a bad fall at Huntingdon last month.

Having missed last week’s Cheltenham Festival his trainer Ferdy Murphy reported that the Irish rider is confident he will get the go-ahead to be back in the saddle in time for the three-day John Smith’s Grand National, where is likely to partner the Yorkshire-based trainer’s Joes Edge in the 4m4f marathon on April 5.

Murphy said: “He is going to ride out on Saturday morning. He’s training everyday with Middlesbrough, I’ve been speaking to him on the phone and he looks fantastic now. He came in on the Monday before Cheltenham to see the horses off and was terrific.

“If he was a horse, you would have run him. He looked real bright, real well and had made such an improvement from when I’d see him at his young lad’s christening last month. He wasn’t a pretty sight.

“He’s passed all the tests and just has to pass the concussion test now. All the others have been done without a problem and the physio at Middlesbrough has told him he is spot on. He will probably go for the test early next week.”

As well as Joes Edge, Lee could have some interesting rides over the three days at Aintree including Aces Four and Kalahari King.