Posts Tagged ‘Grand National’

Ireland Braced For €10 Million National Gamble

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Punters across Ireland are set for a recession busting €10 million gamble on tomorrow’s Aintree Grand National according to top bookie Paddy Power.

The world’s most famous race goes to post at 4.15pm with a full field of 40 horses going head to head over a grueling 4 1/2 miles with ten of the runners carrying the hopes of Ireland.

Irish punters have latched on to a couple of the leading contenders and will be looking for Ruby Walsh and big race favourite, Big Fella Thanks (7-1), to get them back to winning ways after a very tough Cheltenham Festival and Irish Grand National. The best backed Irish horse so far is Arbor Supreme for Willie Mullins who finished a close second in Leopardstown last month.  

Paddy Power said, “It’s the biggest race of the year and punters are out for revenge after a very tough Cheltenham.!   There’s always a fairytale in the National and we don’t have too long to wait to find out who’ll be enjoying the happy ever after”.

The fun-loving bookie has also pledged to give horse racing fans a day to remember tomorrow by promising to buy everyone in Liverpool a free pint if top Irish jockey A.P. McCoy rides the winner in the Grand National.  

Paddy has teamed up with Irish football legend John Aldridge and will sponsor a free bar all night in his famous Liverpool watering hole ‘Aldo’s Place’ should Tony McCoy be first past the post in the four mile stamina sapping contest.

John Smith’s Grand National

Paddy Power bets: 7 Big Fella Thanks, 10 Mon Mome, 12 Black Apalachi, 14 Arbor Supreme, Snowy Morning, The Package, 16 Character Building, Niche Market, Tricky Trickster, Vic Venturi, 18 State Of Play, 20 Comply Or Die, Don’t Push It, Maljimar, 25 Backstage, Ballyholland, Can’t Buy Time, 33 Cloudy Lane, Dream Alliance, Irish Raptor, 40 Hello Bud, King Johns Castle, Madison Du Berlais, My Will, Palypso De Creek, 50 Ballyfitz, Cerium, Eric’s Charm, Joe Lively, 66 Beat The Boys, Ellerslie George, Flintoff, Nozic, Preists Leap, Royal Rosa, 100 Conna Castle, Made In Taipan, Ollie Magern, Pablo Du Charmil, Piraya

Each-way 1,2,3,4,5

All Prices are subject to fluctuation. See www.paddypower.com for latest.

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Paddy Pledges Free Booze If McCoy Wins National

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Top bookie Paddy Power has pledged to give horse racing fans a day to remember this Saturday by promising to buy everyone in Liverpool a free pint if Irish jockey A.P. McCoy rides the winner of the John Smith’s Aintree Grand National.

Generous Paddy has teamed up with Irish football legend John Aldridge and will sponsor a free bar all night in his famous Liverpool watering hole ‘Aldo’s Place’ should Tony McCoy be first past the post in Saturday’s four mile stamina sapping contest.

While McCoy has more than 3,000 career winners under his belt the Grand National trophy is one of very few that has eluding the fourteen-times champion jockey but his mount in this years race, Don’t Push It, is one of the bookies favourites to win.

Paddy Power said, “This looks like the year that Tony will finally break his Grand National duck and if he does I can personally guarantee there won’t be a sober soul in Liverpool this Saturday night.”

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Walsh National dilemma as Big Fella impresses

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

With less than five weeks to go the 2010 Aintree Grand National, Ruby Walsh must be the envy of his weighing room colleagues as Paul Nicholls’ stable jockey faces the dilemma of choosing from an embarrassment of riches ahead of the world’s greatest steeplechase, writes Elliot Slater.
 
The victory of Big Fella Thanks over his better fancied stable companion Pasco at the weekend, must have been a bitter-sweet moment for Walsh who was on board the runner-up and had to watch fellow Irish star jockey Barry Geraghty do the steering on the 8/1 winner. From such a close vantage point Walsh must have been able to judge just how good the performance of Harry Findlay’s eight-year-old was, but there is no doubt that most of the leading betting firms took the victory seriously enough to make Big Fella Thanks joint-favourite with stable companion Tricky Trickster.
 
Most aintree grand national 2010 runners and prices now go 10/1 for both the Nicholls runners, although Ladbrokes and William Hill are the standouts at present going 12/1 the field.
 
Picking the right horse to ride for Aintree is going to be a particularly hard choice for Walsh, as both Tricky Trickster and Big Fella Thanks look ideal types for the four-and-a-half mile marathon. What surprised many people at Newbury was the fact that Big Fella Thanks (sixth to Mon Mome at Aintree in the 2009 renewal), showed enough pace over two-and-a-half miles to beat some decent opposition. He clearly is in great heart and put in a flawless round of jumping having unseated Ruby Walsh at Kempton on his previous outing.
 
Tricky Trickster was also tremendously impressive last time out when coming with a withering late run to deny Niche Market by a short-head in the Aon Chase at Newbury early last month.
 
Nicholls clearly has a very strong hand in the stayers’ department, but it is down to Walsh as to which leading candidate he will partner on the big day. His eventual choice is sure to result in a further trimming of that horse’s odds with the betting fraternity well aware that Walsh is very much a ‘housewives favourite’.

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Scottish National hero seeking to claim Aintree crown

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

At the age of 12 it’s hard to imagine that Hello Bud has more than one crack at the John Smith’s Grand National left in him, so attention will be seriously focused on the grand old servant being in peak form for Aintree in April, writes Elliot Slater.
 
Trained these days by Grand National specialist Nigel Twiston-Davies, Hello Bud has been something of a late maturer, suffering a setback that kept him off the track in his native Ireland for three seasons after which he was campaigned in point-to-points before returning to racing under rules. He left Ireland in the summer of 2007 as a 9-year-old maiden, but it wasn’t long before Twiston-Davies figured out that the key to Hello Bud was a through stamina test.
 
After winning a Huntingdon novices’ handicap chase of a mark of just 85 in January 2008, Hello Bud won five of his next six races, culminating in victory in the Fontwell’s Southern National off a mark of 125 – an extraordinary improvement of 40lbs in just over ten months!
  
Better was yet to come though in 2009 where after winning the Somerset National at Wincanton, the now 11-year-old son of Jurado headed to Ayr and duly made every yard of the running under an inspired ride from Paddy Brennan to beat Gone To Lunch by half a length. The key to Hello Bud, a horse who acts on any ground, is a decent surface. He seems to be at his best when able to bowl along on good ground and get into a rhythm, a role he will hopefully play in the John Smith’s Grand National, for which he is currently on offer at 50/1 with Aintree betting.
 
If he gets his optimum conditions and manages to settle quickly into the leading group at Aintree, there is a good chance that the Grand National Odds  will back the veteran to keep up a relentless gallop that could have plenty of his rivals in trouble.
  
Whatever he does in the Grand National, Hello Bud’s emergence from total obscurity has already been a classic ‘rags to riches’ story. He owes connections absolutely nothing.

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Aintree expecting a Tricky favourite

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

As the build up to the world’s greatest steeplechase continues week on week, it appears that unless there is an unexpectedly good performance from one of the other market principals, Tricky Trickster is the most likely horse to start favourite for the 2010 John Smith’s Grand National, writes Elliot Slater.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has tried many times but the Aintree marathon has consistently exceeded his grasp. This year he appears to have his strongest team yet, with Tricky Trickster likely to be joined in the starting line-up by Big Fella Thanks, last year’s third My Will, and possibly the classy Taranis.

Tricky Trickster has been on many people’s shortlist since landing the four-mile National Hunt Chase at the 2009 Cheltenham festival, a performance that had ‘Grand National’ written all over it. Following a pipe-opener in a Fontwell novice hurdle, the seven-year-old came with a storming late run to catch another leading Grand National candidate Niche Market in the shadow of the post in Newbury’s dramatic Aon Chase, the race in which the great Denman unseated Tony McCoy at the third last.

All reports emanating from Nicholls’ Ditcheat yard suggest that Tricky Trickster came out of the Newbury race in fine form and that all eyes are now focused on the job in hand at Aintree on April 10. It seems most likely that the Irish bred gelding will have his pre-National outing in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a race that would leave a perfect gap of three weeks to have him at his peak for the 40-runner Merseyside spectacular.

At 12/1 with Grand National Betting Tricky Trickster heads the ante-post market for the Grand National, and has done so for some time now. A good performance at Cheltenham could well see those odds contract and it is hard at this stage to envisage too many other candidates for top spot on the betting list.

Despite the frightening statistic that no seven-year-old has won the race since 25/1 shot Bogskar in 1940 (!), could Tricky Trickster at last be the horse to provide Paul Nicholls with a Grand National 2010 victory?

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Kilcrea takes next step on road to Aintree

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

After only one run for his new trainer Emma Lavelle, Kilcrea Castle is being talked about as a lively John Smith’s Grand National outsider, writes Elliot Slater.

Currently on general offer at 50/1 with Horse Race Betting for the April marathon, those odds could be significantly reduced if the eight-year-old puts up a good display in Kempton’s Racing Post Chase, a race for which he is currently amongst the market principals. The ex-Irish gelding joined Lavelle from Pat Doyle’s yard after chasing home Casey Jones in a Grade 3 chase at Punchestown in October. After having a few months off to acclimatise to his new surroundings, Kilcrea Castle made a thoroughly pleasing debut for his new connections when finishing a good third at Ascot in January behind The Sawyer.
 
That run suggested to Lavelle that the Grand National was a race that might just suit the gelded son of Windsor Castle, who if encountering soft ground might have a serious chance of getting in the thick of the action off an attractive racing weight of 10st 8lbs.
 
A great deal depends on how Jack Doyle’s mount goes at Kempton. The step up to three miles is expected to suit Kilcrea Castle ideally, and if able to finish in the first four there could be every reason to believe that the progressive youngster will be given the green light to take on the daunting challenge of the Grand National itself.
 
Only two female trainers have won the world’s greatest steeplechase before. Jenny Pitman became the first when Corbiere famously landed the 1983 renewal, and she then repeated the feat with Royal Athlete in 1995. Last year Venetia Williams added her name to that exclusive list when sending out 100/1 betting  chance Mon Mome to cause one of the biggest shocks in the 180-year history of the race.
 
Maybe Emma Lavelle could be next in line to join that exclusive ladies’ club, courtesy of Kilcrea Castle.

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Apalachi on Target for National Mission

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

A return visit to Aintree and another crack at the John Smith’s Grand National has been top of the agenda for Black Apalachi from the moment the bold front-runner unseated his rider at Becher’s on the second circuit when leading the 2009 field, writes Elliot Slater.
 
It was still too early in the race to say with any degree of certainty, but there is absolutely no doubt that Dessie Hughes’ Old Vic gelding was still going strongly and could have well have finished amongst the front four.
 
Training plans for the eleven-year-old have been specifically tailored around another bid for the Grand National, and after having a seasonal pipe-opener over hurdles at Leopardstown in January, Black Apalachi returned to fences for the first time since April to run a tremendous second to stable companion and one of his fellow Grand National Runners Vic Venturi in the Grade 2 Attheraces Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse recently.
 
Hughes could barely conceal his delight with the way both his Grand National Race Horses had performed and it was no surprise to see bookmakers on both sides of the Irish Sea react immediately by cutting Black Apalachi to 16/1, making him joint second-favourite for the Grand National with some firms. It should also be noted that Black Apalachi gave 5lbs to Vic Venturi at Fairyhouse, but the pair are set to meet off level weights (having been allocated 11st 6lbs) at Aintree.
 
Black Apalachi, winner of the 2008 Becher Chase over the unique Grand National fences, is capable of handling any ground and his front-running style means that there is every chance of him avoiding fallers and other incidents during the hurly-burly of the National. But for coming down at the 22nd fence on his last visit to the track, he could well be going to Aintree as the defending title holder.
 
There are plenty of good reasons for believing that the 2010 renewal could be a golden opportunity for Black Apalachi to gain due compensation.

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Back to the formbook in search of the National winner

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

The publication of the weights for the John Smith’s Grand National brings the final piece of the puzzle to the table as punters settle down to focus on the horses considered ‘best in’ after the allocations calculated by BHA senior jumps handicapper Phil Smith, writes Elliot Slater.

 Most trainers expressed themselves satisfied (or at least accepting of) the weight given to their respective charges, and it is definitely worth considering those handlers who believe they might just have been given a chance by the handicapper to add their name to the Aintree roll of honour.

 Most notable happy bunny appeared to be Venetia Williams, trainer of last year’s 100/1 shock winner Mon Mome who defied all Aintree Grand National betting experts. Williams seemed more than pleased that the ten-year-old has been allocated 11st 7lb, a rise of just 7lbs for his 12 length hammering of Comply Or Die.

Of his five entries at this stage, there appeared little doubt that champion trainer Paul Nicholls was most happy with the weight of 10st 12lbs given to Big Fella Thanks, sixth in last season’s renewal and, despite unseating his rider at the second last at Kempton recently, clearly in good form this term.

Nigel Twiston-Davies, who has won the race twice before with Earth Summit (1998) and Bindaree (2002) has seven horses entered at this stage, but appeared most pleased with the 10st 7lbs handed out to Razor Royale, runner-up to Poquelin in Cheltenham’s Boylesport’s Gold Cup in December and who has generally been running well in good handicap company since.

Of David Pipe’s entries he seemed most satisfied with the 10st 7lbs given to Seven Is My Number, whilst Howard Johnson looked content with the 10st 5lbs given to his main hope Abbybraney, a horse who has been trained all season with the Grand National in mind.

If body language is anything to go by however, then no trainer looked on better terms with himself than Evan Williams, whose classy State of Play will carry just 10st 11lbs on 10th April. At current odds of 25/1 he looks a cracking each-way ante-post investment when it comes to placing your Grand National Free Bets.

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