Strong Irish entry for Aintree Grand National

Irish-trained runners have dominated the last two Aintree Grand Nationals. Tiger Roll led home a one, two, three for Ireland in 2018 and only Walk In The Mill (fourth) prevented another clean-sweep last year. If the betting is any guide, that dominance looks set to continue in 2020.

Tiger Roll will carry top weight of 11st 10lbs on 4th April, providing all goes well at the Cheltenham Festival. The ten-year-old will be sharper for his run over hurdles at Navan recently and now sets his sights on a third successive Cross Country Chase victory.

Trainer Gordon Elliott is confident that he can get him to Aintree in tip-top shape for his bid for remarkable hat-trick of victories.

Elliott to filter big race entries

Elliott entered 18 horses for the £1 million contest this year expects to whittle that down to around six runners.

He picked out Alpha Des Obeaux and The Storyteller as two likely contenders. The former fell at the Chair in 2018 but returned to Aintree to finish third in the Becher Chase in December. Stamina could be a concern for The Storyteller who is yet to race beyond three miles.

Willie Mullins still has nine horses left in the mix but most attention is on Burrows Saint, the winner of the Irish Grand National. The seven-year-old will receive a stone from Tiger Roll and looked in good form when winning over hurdles at the end of the year. If he takes to the Aintree fences, the French import looks a big danger to the favourite.

Previous experience around Aintree is just one of the factors looked for in a potential Grand National winner.

Detailed analysis and tips found on https://www.grand-national-guide.co.uk/  provide a useful tool in the battle to beat the bookmaker. Past form is assessed as well as the latest Grand National betting odds and bookmaker special offers.

Support for Any Second Now

Ted Walsh trained Papillon to win the 2000 Grand National and went close with Seabass in 2012. He has another leading contender this year in Any Second Now, the winner of the Kim Muir at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival. The son of Oscar has not won since but caught the eye when finishing well over a shorter trip at Leopardstown in February.

Pleasant Company was only beaten a head by Tiger Roll in 2018 and was still going well when unseating Paul Townend at the fourth last in 2019. Now aged twelve, there is a feeling that his chance may have gone. Total Recall has a touch of class, as illustrated by his victory in the Thyestes Chase in January. However, he is not the biggest chaser in training and struggled with these big fences in 2018.

The home team suffered a setback with the news that Native River is injured and will be out for the rest of the season. Walk In The Mill finished fourth last year and will attract plenty of each-way bets at around 20-1 after landing his second Becher Chase. He was chased home by Kimberlite Candy who has since advertised his claims with a smooth success in the Warwick Classic Chase.

Potters Corner bids for National double

The Welsh Grand National provided a home win this season for the Christian Williams-trained Potters Corner. His chances would be enhanced by soft ground but he can race close to the pace is no forlorn hope. Another horse to keep an eye on in the ante-post betting is David Pipe’s Ramses De Teillee.

The grey was pulled up after his rein snapped in last year’s National and he has been enjoying himself over hurdles in recent months.

Nigel Twiston-Davies won the National with Earth Summit (1998) and Bindaree (2002). He relies on Ballyoptic this year, an impressive winner at Ascot in February under a big weight. He was a close second in the Scottish Grand National in 2018 and ran well at Aintree until falling four out last year.

The final forty runners (plus four reserves) will be announced on the Thursday of the Aintree Grand National meeting.

The race itself takes place on Saturday 4th April at 5.15pm and will be broadcast live on ITV.

By Harvey Mayson