It won’t really matter anyway, cus I’ve not backed the winner since 2000 Papillon. I was on at 33/1 mind you
Robbie Power set to ride Raz De Maree in the Grand National. James Bowen is booked for Shantou Flyer. Interesting as he could have retained the partnership with the old boy if he wanted..
The final 40 looks like this at present. There are currently 6 horses that are not going to run which I have crossed off assuming owners/trainers don't suddenly have a change of heart. Happy as final nudge looks like will take his chance although to be honest he is still available at 50s anyway: 1)MINELLA ROCCO (IRE) 8 11-10 J P McManus Jonjo O'Neill 2)BLAKLION 9 11-09 Simon Such & Gino Paletta Nigel Twiston-Davies 3)ANIBALE FLY (FR) 8 11-07 J P McManus Tony Martin IRE 4)THE LAST SAMURI (IRE) 10 11-07 Paul & Clare Rooney Kim Bailey 5)VALSEUR LIDO (FR) 9 11-06 Gigginstown House Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE 6)TOTAL RECALL (IRE) 9 11-04 Slaneyville Syndicate Willie Mullins IRE 7)ALPHA DES OBEAUX (FR) 8 11-03 Gigginstown House Stud Mouse Morris IRE 8)GOLD PRESENT (IRE) 8 11-03 John & Barbara Cotton Nicky Henderson 9)PERFECT CANDIDATE (IRE) 11 11-02 ISL Recruitment Fergal O'Brien 10)CAUSE OF CAUSES (USA) 10 11-01 J P McManus Gordon Elliott IRE 10)SHANTOU FLYER (IRE) 8 11-01 Carl Hinchy Richard Hobson 11)TENOR NIVERNAIS (FR) 11 11-00 Boultbee Brooks Ltd Venetia Williams 12)CARLINGFORD LOUGH (IRE) 12 11-00 J P McManus John Kiely IRE 13)VICENTE (FR) 9 10-13 Trevor Hemmings Paul Nicholls 15)GO CONQUER (IRE) 9 10-13 Paul & Clare Rooney Jonjo O'Neill 14)TIGER ROLL (IRE) 8 10-12 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE 15)REGAL ENCORE (IRE) 10 10-12 J P McManus Anthony Honeyball 16)VIEUX LION ROUGE (FR) 9 10-12 Prof Caroline Tisdall & John Gent David Pipe 19)RATHVINDEN (IRE) 10 10-12 Ronnie Bartlett Willie Mullins IRE 20)ACAPELLA BOURGEOIS (FR) 8 10-12 Slaneyville Syndicate Willie Mullins IRE 17)A GENIE IN ABOTTLE (IRE) 7 10-11 Gigginstown House Stud Noel Meade IRE 18)CHASE THE SPUD 10 10-11 Christine Banks Fergal O'Brien 19)WARRIORS TALE 9 10-11 Trevor Hemmings Paul Nicholls 20)SEEYOUATMIDNIGHT 10 10-11 Quona Thomson Sandy Thomson 25)AS DE MEE (FR) 8 10-11 The Stewart Family & Judi Dench Paul Nicholls 21)GAS LINE BOY (IRE) 12 10-10 The Three Graces Ian Williams 22)THE DUTCHMAN (IRE) 8 10-10 SprayClad UK Colin Tizzard 23)PLEASANT COMPANY (IRE) 10 10-10 Malcolm Denmark Willie Mullins IRE 29)BELLSHILL (IRE) 8 10-10 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE 24)UCELLO CONTI (FR) 10 10-09 Simon Munir/Isaac Souede Gordon Elliott IRE 25)SAINT ARE (FR) 12 10-09 David Fox Tom George 26)BEEVES (IRE) 11 10-09 Paul & Clare Rooney Jennie Candlish 27)RAZ DE MAREE (FR) 13 10-08 James Swan Gavin Cromwell IRE 28)I JUST KNOW (IRE) 8 10-07 Michael Scholey & the late Ray Scholey Sue Smith 29)VIRGILIO (FR) 9 10-07 C Edwards, D Futter, A Rushworth Dan Skelton 30)BAIE DES ILES (FR) 7 10-07 Zorka Wentworth Ross O'Sullivan IRE 31)MAGGIO (FR) 13 10-07 Douglas Pryde/James Beaumont Patrick Griffin IRE 32)PENDRA (IRE) 10 10-07 J P McManus Charlie Longsdon 33)BUYWISE (IRE) 11 10-07 T Hywel Jones Evan Williams 34)CHILDRENS LIST (IRE) 8 10-07 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE 35)HOUBLON DES OBEAUX (FR) 11 10-06 Mrs Julian Blackwell Venetia Williams 36)LORD WINDERMERE (IRE) 12 10-06 Dr Ronan Lambe Jim Culloty IRE 37)CAPTAIN REDBEARD (IRE) 9 10-06 Stuart Coltherd Stuart Coltherd 38)BLESS THE WINGS (IRE) 13 10-05 Adrian Butler/S P O'Connor Gordon Elliott IRE 39)MILANSBAR (IRE) 11 10-05 Robert Bothway Neil King 40)FINAL NUDGE (IRE) 9 10-05 Corbett Stud David Dennis Will they/wont they get in? I reckon a couple more may come out such as Vicente and Pendra: 47)DOUBLE ROSS (IRE) 12 10-05 Options O Syndicate Nigel Twiston-Davies 48)ROAD TO RICHES (IRE) 11 10-04 Gigginstown House Stud Noel Meade IRE 49)DELUSIONOFGRANDEUR (IRE) 8 10-04 McGoldrick Racing 3 Sue Smith 50)THUNDER AND ROSES (IRE) 10 10-04 Gigginstown House Stud Mouse Morris IRE 51)WALK IN THE MILL (FR) 8 10-03 Baroness Harding Robert Walford 52)VINTAGE CLOUDS (IRE) 8 10-03 Trevor Hemmings Sue Smith 53)WOUNDED WARRIOR (IRE) 9 10-01 Gigginstown House Stud Noel Meade IRE 54)GENERAL PRINCIPLE (IRE) 9 10-01 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE 55)VIC DE TOUZAINE (FR) 9 10-01 Andrew Brooks & G Moore Venetia Williams 56)SPLASH OF GINGE 10 10-00 John Neild Nigel Twiston-Davies 57)BONNY KATE (IRE) 8 10-00 Patricia Hunt Noel Meade IRE 58)COGRY 9 10-00 Graham and Alison Jelley Nigel Twiston-Davies 59)SIR MANGAN (IRE) 10 10-00 Frank McAleavy Dan Skelton 60)MYSTEREE (IRE) 10 10-00 Lynne Maclennan Michael Scudamore 61)MINELLA DADDY (IRE) 8 9-13 Roddy Owen & Paul Fullagar Peter Bowen 62)BRAQUEUR D'OR (FR) 7 9-13 Corsellis & Seyfried Paul Nicholls 63)RELENTLESS DREAMER (IRE) 9 9013 Nigel Morris Rebecca Curtis 64)KNOCK HOUSE (IRE) 9 9012 Tim Leslie Donald McCain 65)THE YOUNG MASTER 9 9011 Mike Burbidge & The Old Masters Neil Mulholland 66)HENRI PARRY MORGAN 10 9-09 Ednyfed & Elizabeth Morgan Peter Bowen 67)PHIL'S MAGIC (IRE) 8 9-09 Lyreen Syndicate Tony Martin IRE 68)ALFIE SPINNER (IRE) 13 9-09 Alan Beard & Brian Beard Kerry Lee 69)DANCING SHADOW (IRE) 9 9-08 The Dancing Shadows Victor Dartnall 70)ROGUE ANGEL (IRE) 10 9-08 Gigginstown House Stud Mouse Morris IRE 71)OUT SAM 9 9-06 D Charlesworth Gordon Elliott IRE 72)KRACKATOA KING 10 9-03 J Harrison Lee & T Howard P'ship Kerry Lee 73)GOODTOKNOW 10 9-02
What does everyone think of Carlingford Lough? Last year was set to carry top weight in the race but didn't run...this year dropped to a mark of 152 from 162. Carries 11 stone. Multiple grade one winner and has to be interesting. Chance and perhaps been aimed at race all year? Runs haven't been convincing but perhaps he s been trained specifically for this race?
The "soft" is starting to disappear and with drying winds, rising temperatures and only the odd shower forecast it should be lovely jumping ground
Looking last night this one stood out off his mark. Multiple Grade 1 winner who has been taken out of this the last couple of years when he was due to lug top weight around. Can't help think this is a potential plot job. His style of running would mean he'd likely need som luck in running to avoid fallers. Trainer also hardly prolific but this is his stable star so wouldn't set too much stock by trainer form. Of the 3 I picked out earlier I'm tempted to drop Buywise for this one. Watch Buywise hack up if I do
Stick will not be happy. The lovely Alex has backed Ucello Conti according to her blog in the Sporting Life. Cash out now mate!
I hope I’m not alone with this. I’ve picked 6 possibly 7 for the National, at the moment placed bets on 4 of them. Every time I look at the race I try to convince myself all my selections could win it. Then I second guess myself. I think I do this every bloody year. Why? Please tell me I’m not the only 1 that does this with the National
For me...this is the race I get most excited about all year round. The problem is though if you analyse it too much you are unlikely to pick a single horse to finish in the first 5. . I have it whittled down to 5 at present but only ever pick maximum of 3 so process of elimination to go through. I make sure no matter what news feeds come up I stick to my picks. On the subject of Alex Hammond I read somewhere that her strike rate for cheltenham wasn't too bad in the end and she could quite miraculously pick the winner. Don't let her selection put you off!
With Cause of Causes out I no longer have a horse that I fancy so as it stands I'll be backing a sketchy jumper and a, to the say the least, a very inconsistent horse. Oh and at ridiculous prices too. Buywise 50/1 Houblon Des Obeaux 100/1
Some sad news just come out...a genie in a bottle trained by Noel Mead found dead today..was suffering from a mystery illness apparently. So another you can cross off the runners list .
