Henrietta Knight looks far more the headmistress of a private school for ‘young ladies’ than the archetypal thoroughbred racehorse trainer, but the cloche hat and pearls shouldn’t trick anyway into believing she isn’t one of the most astute exponents of her craft, writes Elliot Slater.
 
The lady who famously can’t bear to look when her horses race and is usually found hiding around the back of the grandstand while her horses are being cheered to the rafters, is most readily associated with the outstanding triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate and the champion chaser Edredon Bleu, amongst a number of fine horses she has trained, and her supporters will be hoping that Calgary Bay can be the next Knight superstar when he bids for glory in the John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree on April 9th.
 
Knight has never been overly keen on running her beloved horses in the Grand National so the fact that she has been targeting this race with Calgary Bay surely says something about the chance she believes this classy performer has of making his presence felt in the ‘world’s greatest steeplechase’ and those looking to bet on horse racing would do well to bear this in mind.
 
A Grade 2 winning novice chaser who won Cheltenham’s Dipper Novice Chase in 2009, the eight-year-old is the perfect age for the Aintree spectacular, certainly stays three miles well (and will probably stay much further at the pace of the marathon event), and has been in good form already this term, finishing a fine fourth to Poquelin in the Grade 3 Vote AP McCoy Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November, then chasing home Wishfull Thinking in the Grade 3 Murphy Group Chase over the same course and distance in January.
 
With the ground likely to be in his favour and having bypassed the Cheltenham Festival to come fresh and well to Aintree, Calgary Bay’s 33/1 odds seem sure to appeal to plenty of punters.