Hovdey: Does Dawalan still have that spring in his step?

There will be parimutuel betting for the first time in the $450,000 Grand National Hurdle at Far Hills on Saturday afternoon, and don’t let anyone tell you it will be easy.

For starters, the field of nine going forth over 14 barriers and 2 5/8 miles will include five fresh invaders from foreign lands, undoubtedly lured by the romance of the New Jersey countryside, as well as a shot at the kind of money they rarely see at home.

Only the most adept international handicappers will be able to parse the differences among the workmanlike victory of 10-year-old Hammersly Lake in the Sodexo Killiecrankie Handicap Steeplechase at Scotland’s Perth Racecourse on Sept. 10, Jury Duty’s distant runner-up finish to Woodland Opera in the PWC Champion Steeplechase at Ireland’s Gowran Park on Oct. 6, and the close second by the German gelding Jaleo in the London Office Exchange Novices Steeplechase at Fontwell Park deep in the south of England last August.

If the imports pose a handicapping puzzle, wait until interested fans get to the domestics. All the Way Jose, in the hands of Jonathan Sheppard, came within a head of winning the 2017 Grand National but has fared poorly this year, while Hinterland, second in last month’s Lonesome Glory, has yet to win in seven North American tries. Such a muddled pile of data is enough to make even the best handicappers hit ctrl-alt-delete and announce, “Enough! I’m betting on the gray.”

They could do worse. That spectral vision of a Thoroughbred striding forth Saturday afternoon will be none other than Dawalan, the Grand National winner and champion steeplechaser of 2015. Now 8, Dawalan will appear to some as a ghostly presence, gone from the scene so long that his trainer, Cyril Murphy, is inclined to forgive those in the Far Hills crowd who fail to recognize the son of Azamour, seeing as he has started exactly once since winning the Colonial Cup in November 2015.

A tendon injury knocked Dawalan out of competition for 2016, then he reinjured the same tendon during his return in the 2017 Iroquois. That was 17 months ago. So here we go . . . again?

“When he reinjured it last year it was really through a jumping error,” Murphy said this week. “The tendon structure was in good shape, but we think he struck into himself. That gave us hope that if we got him back once, we could get him back twice, mostly because he has his age on his side.”

Dawalan is hardly a jumping codger. Only one of his Grand National opponents is younger. As a champion at 5 he was a bona-fide prodigy, something special from the moment he was imported from England by owner Irv Naylor and turned over to Murphy at Naylor’s Maryland training farm.

“The only little extra piece of information that came with him was that he was a little bit moody,” Murphy recalled. “But as long as we could keep him sweet we could get some good from him. Coming around now there’s been no hint of negativity in his daily exercise, and he’s had a great appetite on top of it.”

Murphy said Dawalan’s training has been blissfully uninterrupted since he was put under tack in July. Three weeks ago, at Shawan Downs just north of Baltimore, Dawalan and a stablemate worked a stout 1 1/4 miles in a public trial, with his Grand National rider, Darren Nagle, on board.

“Physically, he looks fantastic,” Murphy said. “He’s lost that steel gray look by now and has a lot more white on him, and he’s as fit as we can get him here at home. He won’t be lacking for anything beyond the race rustiness he’s bound to have.”

Murphy, 46, is a native of County Waterford in Ireland who began his racetrack career working for the respected British trainer Mark Prescott. Murphy’s ambition was to ride in the United States, a dream that came true as a stable jockey for Hall of Fame trainer Tom Voss. It has been nearly a decade since Murphy wrapped up his riding career and took out a trainer’s license.

When it comes to the Grand National, he knows what it takes to win. In addition to saddling Dawalan in the 2015 running, Murphy and Naylor came right back in 2016 with the champion Rawnaq, now retired. And not for nothing, Murphy also has the distinction of riding a Grand National winner – Quel Senor in 2001.

“Every summer since, when I get to Saratoga, one first stops I’ll make is the Racing Museum, where they have a video of the race in the archives,” Murphy said. “I’ll sit down and watch it two or three times.”

The chances of Saturday’s Grand National making the Dawalan highlight reel are daunting. In flat racing terms, Murphy is attempting what Michael Dickinson achieved in 1998 when he brought Da Hoss back from a two-year absence and one minor prep to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile. However, time spent around a horse of Dawalan’s class tends to buoy hopes, and champions often do the impossible.

“We won’t get carried away and say it’s going to happen,” Murphy said. “Still, it would be no surprise. As far as I’m concerned, he’s ready to step out there and show what he can do.”