Horse Racing / Editor / 04 February 2009 / Leave a comment

Malcolm Pannett assesses the horses emerging as the main protagonists at Aintree prior to this year's running of the nation's favourite race.

Denman dominates the Grand National betting at present. However as a no-show so far this season and having suffered from a heart problem the chances of him lining up at Aintree are certainly open to debate. But even if he does make it to the start will the [12.0] on offer with Betfair at the time of writing be a good bet?

Only two horses have ever won both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National and both of them had already won at least two Gold Cups before their National successes. Golden Miller had actually won three Gold Cups before doing the double in 1934. While L'Escargot, who won the 1970 and 71 Gold Cups, was knocked over in his first National in 1972 before, in successive seasons, finishing third, second and then first in 1975 when he finally beat old adversary Red Rum.

Records are there to be broken, however, and it would appear superficially that Denman would have a better chance if he can collect another Gold Cup on his way to Aintree!

Hopefully we would witness at least a bold show in the manner of Prince Regent and Garrison Savannah who came close to landing the double. In fact, both led over the final obstacle at Aintree only to be engulfed close to home by Lovely Cottage and Seagram respectively.

Several other horses have run well in both events, notably the hardy perennials The Dikler and West Tip, as well as The Thinker and Rough Quest. However, many Gold Cup winners have sidestepped the Aintree showpiece as it is perceived as an unnecessary risk for a class horse. So respect is due to messrs Nicholls, Findlay and Barber for even contemplating the challenge.

Don't forget 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition is still among the entries so there is a possibility, however remote, that more than one Gold Cup winner could line up.

War of Attrition is of course trained in Ireland and Irish runners have won six of the last ten Nationals. And, although there was at one time conjecture that there wasn't parity between the Irish and British handicappers, even after adjustments the Irish have continued to play a major part fielding three of the last four winners and the second, third and fourth last year.

Slim Pickings, fourth last year and third the year before, seems to reserve his best for Aintree and will be popular again for a place whereas a first win since 2006 would seem unlikely. Snowy Morning ([24.0]), third last year, has been largely disappointing since, and King John's Castle hasn't been seen since finishing runner-up last year. However, the latter is reportedly being trained specifically for the National and has more than halved in price in some books (50-1 into 20-1) but is still available at [46.0] at the time of writing on Betfair.