Wide-open field for Grand National Hurdle

Even if you regularly handicap steeplechase racing, the $450,000 Grand National Hurdle on Saturday at Far Hills in New Jersey looks challenging.

Nine were entered in the race, the richest North American jumps race of the season, and none stands out.

Clarcam, Jury Duty, and Tornado Watch are in from Ireland, Hammersly Lake and Jaleo from England. French-bred Days of Heaven has raced the last two seasons in England but starts Saturday for Mid-Atlantic trainer Jack Fisher. He was fifth in the 2016 American Grand National.

One year earlier, another French-bred, Dawalan, won the Grand National on his way to an Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser of 2015. A tendon injury forced him into a long rehabilitation before he could race again, and the issue reoccurred when Dawalan finally started again in May 2017. Dawalan makes another comeback run in the Grand National, but though his preparation has gone along steadily, it’s a lot to ask, getting back to top form from three years ago.

The picture would look clearer if the leading American jumper of 2018, Zanjabeel, hadn’t injured a tendon himself early this month, taking him out of Grand National consideration.

The race is at 2 5/8 miles over national fences, and there’s only a small chance the course takes any rain late this week. This will be a sterner test of stamina than the jump races run at flat tracks in New York, where several of these horses have started, and form from Saratoga is apples to Far Hills oranges.

That bodes well for a couple horses Saturday, including All the Way Jose, who wasn’t competitive in two Saratoga Grade 1’s this summer for legendary trainer Jonathan Sheppard. All the Way Jose was, however, very competitive in the 2017 Grand National, in which he set the pace and nearly held on to win, finishing third, beaten just a head by victorious Mr. Hot Stuff.

Jury Duty, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, races on Lasix for the first time while making his North American debut after failing to win any of his six starts this year. Perhaps the anti-bleeding medication will help him regain his 2017 form, good enough to win Saturday’s race.

For the first time there’s national parimutuel betting on this card, a seven-race affair that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern. The Grand National is carded as race 6, with post time scheduled for 4:20.