PIC: Delicious irony as horse named after Arsenal defender a non-runner at Aintree

We'll admit that we had a right chuckle at this

Poor Per Mertesacker. If he isn't being blamed for all of Arsenal's defensive woes by Wojciech Szczęsny's father, then he may be also to blame for preventing a horse from running at today's Aintree meeting. A Nic Allen owned gelding,also called Mertesacker, was due to feature in today's opening race at Aintree on Grand National day, but disappointingly Gunners fans can't put their money on the six-year-old as he's been declared a non-runner. Much like his performances for Arsenal it seems that getting up to galloping pace is beyond the German horse. His odds before being pulled out of the race, over 200/1. https://twitter.com/markpougatch/status/586854813507420160