GRAND NATIONAL

There's very little for even the most dedicated horse lover to latch on to in this sentimental gesture by a bereaved father whom Tunis characterizes with a reserve that approaches half-heartedness. Fiftyish Jack Cobb is using every penny he can salvage from his failed brokerage house to train Quicksilver for the Grand National in hopes of a victory that will memorialize his son recently killed in Vietnam. Quicksilver is nursed through a bowed tendon by genteel trainer Iris Hunting and ridden to victory by Iris' young son (so obviously a reminder of Cobbs' own). But neither the tepid September romance nor Quicksilver's showing at Aintree can rescue this limping non-story. No excuse.