Golfer and Bellshill co-owner Lee Westwood reacts to Randox Grand National weights

Published 2021/02/16

Former world number one golfer and horseracing fan Lee Westwood described owning a potential Randox Grand National runner as incredible and said it was his dream to win the worlds greatest steeplechase.

Westwood co-owns former Irish Gold Cup and Punchestown Gold Cup winner Bellshill with friend Dave Armstrong.

The 11-year-old gelding has a rating of 153 and has been allocated a weight of 10st 10lbs for the big race at Aintree and at number 23 in the list has a guaranteed place in the race if connections choose to proceed.

Westwood is hugely excited at the prospect and said:

To win the National would be unbelievable. It is what dreams are made of and its the biggest horse race in the world. Just to have a runner in it is incredible, but to have a winner would be staggering its difficult to put into words.

Westwood also explained the Aintree showpiece had been close to his heart since he was young.

He said:

The Grand National is very high up in my affections. For people in horseracing it is very high up, but I think for people who dont watching racing regularly it is probably the most famous race of all.

It is the one that everyone will have watched at some point and I think if you mention horseracing to the general public, the race they will come up with is the Grand National.

It is a bit like the Ryder Cup in a way - the majors draw in all the fanatical golf followers, but the Ryder Cup pulls in sport followers and I would say the Grand National is the same.

My Grandad likes his racing and we would go round and watch the King George on Boxing Day, but we would also watch the National come Easter time so those two races are my earliest memories of watching racing, with the National being the one that everybody wants to win.

Westwood also paid tribute to trainer Sandy Thomson for reinvigorating Bellshill ahead of a run in the Grand National.

He explained:

He is great with these older racehorses. I have never had a runner in the National and I do not know whether Dave (Armstrong) has, so to get a horse there is the ultimate achievement.

Getting an old-ish horse like Bellshill there is an even bigger achievement and if he races you just want him to come back safe and sound. But to just see him jump the fences would be a real buzz if it happens.

If Bellshill does run in the Grand National on Saturday 10th April, Westwood will have to follow the race from a different time zone and might even miss it altogether.

He explained:  I am in America at the moment and hopefully I will be teeing off in the third round of the Masters with the lead on Grand National day! It seems to always clash this golf seems to really get in the way of horseracing at times!

The Players Championship is the week of Cheltenham and it is the Masters when the Grand National is on, so what can you do?

I have got to work sometimes!