His season has been quietly geared to another tilt at the Aintree marathon; he has raced only three times this term, producing an eye-catching performance second time out at Leopardstown in December when he ran New Co to a length in a three-mile Grade Two contest, giving him 10lb, with Time For A Run, in receipt of 12lb, eight lengths behind. The best of his previous six was Wylde Hide himself, who was just beginning to creep into the reckoning last year when he unseated Francis Woods at the second Canal Turn. In the past week the lightly raced 10-year-old, owned by the legendary Irish punter J P McManus, has been significantly backed to make amends. A former Irish amateur champion as a rider, 45-year-old Moore, based near Naas in Co Kildare, is no stranger to success in Britain as a trainer - he described Klairon Davis's victory in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham last year as the best moment of his career - but has yet to see one of his Grand National runners finish. For he is trained by Arthur Moore, whose father Dan sent out the last of the heroes from the Emerald Isle, L'Escargot in 1975. And if victory for a horse from Ireland would be appropriate next Saturday, then for Wylde Hide it would be doubly so. It is exactly 150 years since a gelding called Matthew became the first of only 16 Irish-trained winners of the Grand National. Very nice, but what the hell am I going to do with it?The rod comes up for sale at Angling Auctions on Saturday 5 April at Chiswick Town Hall, London The auction starts at 1pm Details from 0181- 749 4175..

"But I can't help thinking that the angler who got it would much rather have had a decent reel, or a rod he could actually fish with," says Freeman.A bit like my owl, really. His theory is that it would have come from an adoring wife or a grateful client - "but it would never have been used by the angler as a piece of fishing tackle", he says.The rod, built of greenheart and whole cane, is heavy enough at 14ft 6in without silver, ivory and sundry jewels. "I would have thought it was built for a wealthy angler as a presentation piece," he said. It carries a monogram - SFD - but that merely adds to the mystery.

As such, it is expected to fetch at least pounds 15,000, but it could be as much as pounds 25,000, which would be a world record for an item of tackle.Freeman has been unable to find out much more about it, however. He says the 1851 British Exhibition included several similar rods decorated with ivory and silver, but none so ornate. The auctioneer Neil Freeman, who knows his stuff when it comes to old tackle, was astonished when it came to light. the whole terminating in a silver collard butt cap adorned with four engraved vignettes of angling scenes, above a further band of six inset cabochon garnets." In other words, a fishing rod which is inset with jewels, with silver and ivory fittings.It had been sitting unwanted in a tackle shop for nearly 50 years. "The exceptionally impressive butt section of tapered form with ivory handle mounted with a heavily engraved silver reels seat, decorated with acanthus banding and sliding reel locking collar, inset with six cabochon garnets... The auction catalogue lists it as "a unique silver- mounted Scottish presentation salmon fly rod, hallmarked Thomas Aitcheson, 1859-60".It's not just another fishing rod But better that the catalogue tells it. She said: "Keith's just given me a dead bird on a stick."Rather missed the point of it, I feel, but I suspect the recipient of a fishing rod that comes up for auction next Saturday probably felt very much the same way.