Slevin: Panda Boy perfect companion in quest for National double
The jockey is looking to become just the third ever to win the Irish and English Grand Nationals in the same year
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JJ Slevin celebrates his BoyleSports Irish Grand National win on Intense Raffles
JJ Slevin believes Panda Boy is the perfect companion for the second leg of his sensational quest for a Grand National double, writes Ben Hart.
Buoyed by a thrilling success onboard Intense Raffles at Fairyhouse, Slevin now hopes to join the likes of AP McCoy and Ruby Walsh in the elite club to have ruled on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Slevin has never made it to the finish line in his previous three rides in the Aintree showpiece but is confident this year’s charge has all the attributes to help him break his duck.
What a thriller!
— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) April 1, 2024
Intense Raffles - the only six-year-old in the line-up - makes it three from three in Ireland with a brilliant success in the @BoyleSports Irish Grand National.
Mnay congratulation to Tom Gibney, JJ Slevin and Simon Munir and Isaac Souede 👏 pic.twitter.com/qAKtrg67K8
“He ticks a lot of boxes for the race,” said Slevin. “I think he’s a real staying horse, gets in a good rhythm and he’s great over hurdles, so he’s a good solid horse.
“It’s a very competitive race, probably as tough as ever with the modifications to the fences, but we’re looking forward to it and I think he’s got a live chance.
“I always look forward to heading over to Aintree, it’s got a different feel to Cheltenham.
“The Grand National is a massive event, I’ve been watching it for a long time and it’s great to have a ride in it because if you don’t, you feel left out.”
Panda Boy, trained by Martin Brassil, has not won a race in nearly two years but Slevin takes a lot of heart from his ‘massive runs’ to second in the 2023 Paddy Power Chase and third in the previous renewal.
A striking grey like his BoyleSports Irish National-winning mount, Slevin says Panda Boy would stand a good chance on looks alone.
“He’s a very good-looking horse, he catches your eye and he’s the type of horse that people like to buy as a model,” said Slevin.
“I always thought the English loved the grey horses even more than the Irish. You heard stories from back along that if there was a good grey horse then the English would know about it.
“The likes of Desert Orchid captured people’s attention as well and I suppose they’re a little bit different and there’s fewer of them.”
Slevin nearly saw his Irish National dissipate after a mistake four from home and he suggests a similar misstep at Aintree could prove costly.
“The English National is a massive test of a horse, the fences have been modified but they are visually very big for a horse and most of them are still the same as what they always are and they come at different angles,” he said.
“They ride a bit different and you need a brave horse to be able to take them on, you need a horse with plenty of bottle.
“It’s a fair test and you need a proper jumping horse to get around. Some horses can even jump too well and be too big over them and see two or three horses flying past you.”
Only Tommy Carberry and Ruby Walsh have won both races in the same year, demonstrating the enormity of the task facing Slevin.
But after landing Ireland’s richest National Hunt race for a second time, Slevin is determined to fulfil a childhood dream and land the English equivalent.
“It would be unbelievable,” he added. “It’s very hard to do. It would probably be up there as the best achievement of my career, it would be massive.
“We’ll see what happens, hopefully we get a bit of luck.
“As a young lad growing up, you would be waking up on National Day waiting for it to start. The week before you would be building jumps and putting down trees for your pony to jump, it’s such a massive event.”