LIMPLEY STOKE trainer Neil Mulholland will not rush into making a decision on who will partner The Druids Nephew in the Crabbie's Grand National with regular partner Barry Geraghty on the sidelines.

The eight-year-old, trained by Mulholland at Conkwell Grange, was an easy winner at the Cheltenham Festival, propelling himself to the forefront of the betting for the great race.

However, with Geraghty suffering a hairline fracture of his shin bone in a fall at Downpatrick on Sunday, Mulholland has some thinking to do.

He said: "There are a lot of names in the hat and I've had plenty of agents on the phone, as you can imagine.

"There's no need for us to make an immediate decision, though - the news about Barry only broke late last night.

"My second choice if Barry wasn't available was Davy Russell (who broke his arm on Saturday) as he rode him in the Hennessy, so plan A and B are both out of the window.

"It's not a decision we can make quickly as he's going there with a serious chance.

"There's a few bridges we need to cross yet, I'd like whoever rides him to school him first and we need some rain before we can school him on the grass."