Even after 171 renewals, the allure of the Aintree Grand National lingers. Nothing captures the sporting public’s imagination to the same extent as the thrills and spills of the four-and-a-half mile annual Aintree showpiece.
The true magic of the Aintree Grand National lies in its unpredictability. Realistically, any horse out of the 40 entrants who toe the line on that early April Saturday has a chance of coming out victorious, 30 large fences later.
Rank outsiders regularly grace the winners enclosure such as the 2009 victor ‘Mon Mome’, who came in at astounding odds of 100-1 or the 2013 winning warrior Auroras Encore, who landed the spoils at the sky high price of 66-1.
Therefore, it is not easy to pick a winner. After studying the form, trends and history of the race closely and have chosen five horses for you to follow. Now please don’t take this as gospel, or don’t put the kitchen sink on any of these horses, but they are worth a flutter.
1. Rogue Angel – A patriotic pick to get the ball rolling. Mouse Morris and Gigginstown House Stud were a victorious pairing last year when Rock The World stormed up the home straight under David Mullins. Gigginstown manager Eddie O’Leary has confirmed that Bryan Cooper, Gigginstown’s first choice jockey has chosen to ride this horse ahead of their four other entrants.
Trainer Mouse Morris with Rogue Angel.
The Irish national is generally an accurate indicator of a horse’s chances in the English equivalent with Numbersixvalverde and Bobbyjo having both completed this double before. I would give Rogue Angel every chance of following suit and at attractive odds of 25-1 and a featherweight of 10-8, he’s definitely worth a few quid each way.
This horse, which won the Irish national on Easter Monday last year has a big chance of seeing history repeat itself.
Rule The World romping to victory in last years renewal.
2. More Of That – It is fair to say that this horse has disappointed since his thrilling 2014 World Hurdle defeat of the all fancied Willie Mullins trained Annie Power. Class is permanent, however and I feel this is the classiest horse in the field.
Trainer Johnjo O Neill has won this race before with Don’t Push It in 2010 and he will have this horse primed come Saturday. He finished in sixth place in the recent Cheltenham Gold Cup and he will improve for this run. He also impressed in the Irish Gold Cup and arguably might have won had he not unseated jockey Mark Walsh at the last. He has the staying credentials and will enjoy the long trip. The bookies have obviously taken this logic into account too, but at 12-1 he is still worth a punt.
3. Cause of Causes – Another JP McManus owned horse with a massive chance. Cause of Causes will represent the in form Gordon Elliot stable here. The nine-year-old was one of Elliot’s 6 winners at the Cheltenham festival and helped him to the leading trainer’s crown.
He did so by taking the Cross Country Chase where Aintree style fences are jumped. This horse has big race pedigree and now has three Cheltenham festival wins under his belt. The four-mile trip will be no problem to this staying type and I feel he has the form to better his eighth place finish in 2015. Take a whirl at 14-1.
Cause of Causes on his way to victory under Jamie Codd at the 2017 Cheltenham festival.
4. Highland Lodge – This is a pick for those who enjoy the romance of the game. Trainer James Moffatt operates at a very small scale in comparison to some of the bigger trainers. It’s a case of David v Goliath when compared to the training superpowers of Mullins, Nicholls et al, but this is the beauty of the Aintree Grand National. This horse has a massive chance and has some serious Aintree pedigree. He has history over the Aintree fences completing the course on all of his three attempts and winning the 2015 Beecher Chase. Moffatt believes his horse is Taylor made for this race and he certainly shouldn’t be discounted. A strong each way chance at 25-1.
5. Vicente – A trend that has occurred in recent Grand Nationals is that of horses who have performed well in the other Nationals i.e Irish, Welsh or Scottish acquitting themselves well in Aintree also. This Paul Nicholls-trained horse won last year’s Scottish National and looks a solid each way bet under Brian Hughes.
Even those who have absolutely no interest in horse-racing in general are lured into the beauty and romanticism of this event. How could anybody resist the temptation to join such excitement by watching or placing a small bet?
One of the my favourite tales from Aintree’s past is that of cancer survivor Bob Champion riding the 1981 winner ‘Aldaniti’ to glory. It so resembled a Hollywood movie script that it was made into a film. In 1979 aged 31, Champion was told that he had cancer and could only have months to live. After months of chemotherapy, Champion made a recovery and returned to racing, with the dream of winning the Grand National having kept him going through his darkest moments. What an apt name was Champion for the heroic jockey.
Whatever you’re doing on Saturday at 17:15, it won’t be more enjoyable than the Aintree Grand National. I can guarantee you that.
