Celibate's happy case of the Blues

Celibate's trainer thinks his charge has a great chance and said: "There has always been a theory that two-and-a-half-mile horses are perfect for the National and that is what he is.

"We have had him seven years and he's our biggest moneyspinner, having won over £250,000.

He has won the BMW at Punchestown and the Game Spirit Chase, been second in the Belgian Champion Hurdle and third in the Arkle besides winning many other good races.

"Top jockey Mick Fitzgerald, who won the National on Rough Quest, told me he thought Celibate was an ideal horse for the National and I would love to be up on him myself."

Mann was no mean pilot before he turned trainer. He rode 149 National Hunt winners, most of them for 'Mrs Grand National' herself, Jenny Pitman, and Nick Henderson.

His riding career ended after a couple of horrendous falls in which he broke his neck and later had to have 148 stitches in his skull.

Celibate has also been in the wars, suffering a hairline fracture of the pelvis two days before a tilt at Cheltenham's Queen Mother Champion Chase.

He is fully recovered and last October sparkled in the Grade 2 Desert Orchid Chase at Wincanton, with Noel Fehily, who will also be in the saddle at Liverpool, having an 'armchair' ride.

Bred to do almost anything in racing, Celibate's credentials are first class. His second dam was the mother of Tiznow, winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont last autumn. Before the Wincanton win, Mann had had a battle to get Celibate fit.

"He came back from the summer bigger than ever but he is still so enthusiastic," said the handler. "He is unbelievable."

Mann's record in the National as a jump jockey reads six rides. He got round the course for three of them, falling at the very first fence on the last occasion.

"Celibate won't do that, he's an excellent jumper," the 42-year-old trainer bravely forecast.

There is nothing truer in racing than "a lucky owner is the best thing a stable can have", and Michaelson fits that bill to a 'T'. He part-owned Hoh Magic, trained by Michael Bell, who won the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deaville.

Michaelson is a wizard at putting cash in the right places. An economics and politics graduate, he went straight into asset management, spending five years in Boston. He later became chief investment officer for Citibank before starting Sagitta.

As if having Celibate in the National is not enough, he also has Moor Lane in the world's greatest steeplechase.

Moor Lane won the Great Yorkshire Chase in January, beating Kit Smartie by three-andahalf lengths. Handled by former royal trainer Ian Balding, Moor Lane is a gelding like Celibate but is much more fancied in the betting than the latter at around 14-1.

However, Michaelson does not regard Balding as a particularly good judge and recalled: "I went to the dogs at Wembley with him. He professed to know all about the sport, yet the dog he tipped for the first race came out backwards!"

Mann believes Celibate is underrated for the Martell-sponsored big race over those 30 forbidding fences.

"He wasn't even quoted when they started betting on the race," growled Mann. "That is an insult to the horse and I expect him to do something about it!"