THIEF!
Don’t worry, nothing has gone missing. I’m just informing you that Identity Thief has just won the 16:20 at a rather sizeable 14/1.
Sean Flanagan is riding Road to Riches (40/1) in the Grand National for those who like following back-to-back winners…
FLYING HOME?
Less than an hour until the almighty roar goes up at Aintree. We’ve still got plenty of time to find ourselves a winner, and I want to talk about Anibale Fly… again!
I think you can tell who I’ve backed.
Anibale Fly made eye-catching late progress to take third place behind the dominant duo of Native River and Might Bite in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
His style of running suggests he will suited by the way the National will pan out. He can be held up and will hopefully avoid trouble before his stamina and ability kick in on the second circuit.
TOP OF THE MARKET
Our resident tipster Patrick Weaver has been pouring over the form for weeks now.
He doesn’t get out much.
Anyway, here’s his thoughts on the top THREE in the betting market and he’s even included a nifty star rating.
TOTAL RECALL 11/1
Has a touch of class (won the Ladbroke Trophy, formerly the Hennessy, at Newbury) and comes here with a big chance. Has made mistakes under pressure in the past. 4 stars
ANIBALE FLY 12/1
Finished well in the Cheltenham Gold Cup (third). This much longer trip will hold no fears for him. Took a terrible tumble in the Irish Gold Cup but looks to have recovered. 4 stars
TIGER ROLL 14/1
Landed the cross-country chase at the Cheltenham Festival, despite being hampered at the 12th. Winner over 4m as a novice. Application is impossible to fault. 3 stars
‘YA KNOW…
There’s a market mover folks.
Eight-year-old hope I Just Know is attracting attention on the day of the National, being cut by 14 different bookies over the last hour.
With plenty of the recent trends pointing in his favour, the horse has been a desirable selection at 22/1 first thing this morning.
A handful of operators have gone as short as 14/1 for the horse, putting him right up there with the likes of Tiger Roll and Blaklion.
Oddschecker spokesperson George Elek said: “The gamble of today is on I Just Know, and if this improving eight-year-old can get out in front and keep his jumping fluent, he’s a big danger to the rest of the field. He has form on soft ground and over 3 miles, winning the North Yorkshire Grand National at Catterick at the start of the year and Danny Cook will fancy his chances on the back of Sue Smith’s charge.”
AFTERNOON
Welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Grand National 2018.
Favourite colour, lucky number and blindly pointing at a list of runners and riders. Which professional method have you selected today?
There’s a few other bizarre options people have gone for, but I’ll address those (weird) ones later.
We’ve got about 75 minutes until the big one goes off, so I’ll bring you all the form and facts from our resident racing experts.
Let’s get going!
NON-RUNNERS
Regal Encore and Walk In The Mill have been ruled out of the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree today.
The former, trained by Anthony Honeyball and owned by JP McManus, must miss out as a blood analysis taken from the 10-year-old was found to have been abnormal.
Walk In The Mill was third reserve for the Grand National but sneaked into the race 11 minutes before Friday’s 1pm cut-off point after Beeves was declared a non-runner.
Trainer Robert Walford’s dreams have now gone up in smoke, though, as the Baroness Harding-owned eight-year-old is lame.
Thirty-eight horses will now go to post for the big race, which is due off at 5.15pm.
