THE North-East and North RACING RESULTS Yorkshire will be without a single entrant in Saturday’s Grand National after Ferdy Murphy was forced to withdraw Poker De Sivola yesterday because of a dirty scope.

Poker De Sivola, who was previously available as a 50-1 shot for the Aintree marathon, was due to have been the last of the 40 permitted runners to get in at the weights.

However, a scope last week raised alarms, and a second test in the last 24 hours has forced the ten-year-old’s withdrawal.

As a result, the region will not have a single runner in Saturday’s race, with Donald McCain’s Cheshire stables provided the closest thing to a local hope.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had to pull Poker De Sivola out,”

said Murphy, who is based at West Witton, in North Yorkshire.

“If he’s not right, then there’s no point taking him, and sadly he’s not right.

“We scoped him last week and the results of that made us a bit worried. The scope has just confirmed our fears and he’s not fit to go.

“It’s a shame because he didn’t run at Cheltenham to keep him for this and we’d been pretty confident of a big run. The ground would have suited him, but unfortunately it’s not to be.”

Poker De Sivola proved he handled the Aintree fences when he finished seventh in December’s Becher Chase, and the out-and-out stayer previously won the bet365 Gold Cup Chase at Sandown in April 2011.

He was not the only horse to be withdrawn yesterday, as Philip Hobbs scratched his 50- 1 chance Quinz when he also scoped badly.

“Quinz scoped badly this morning and will not be able to run as a result,” said Hobbs, who will still be represented by the highly-rated Balthazar King. “As there is betting on the race, I thought it pertinent to let people know straight away.”