With the 2018 Cheltenham Festival now in the books, attentions turn to the upcoming Grand National at Aintree. Run on Saturday 14th April this year, punters have known for some time they will have a new winner following 2017 champion One For Arthur’s early withdrawal due to injury.
Picking that winner is another matter, with players adopting all manner of strategies to beat the bookies. One tactic is doing the groundwork, reading the form and figures of each horse and coming to an educated decision.
Wise, but let’s not forget, this is the Grand National and you could be on the best horse in the field but, if another falls in front of yours, breeding and a glittering CV will count for nothing as gravity takes charge.
Seen as a bit of a lottery by many, a fair share of punters prefer to use pot luck, picking a name they like or one that sounds familiar, a jockey or trainer they know should give them a run for their money, or even just the pattern on the racing silks. Closing your eyes and dropping a pen on the newspaper page is another popular with the £1-a-year brigade.
Aiming to be a little more professional here’s an outsider with proven track and trip form that should keep you involved at an attractive price.
Source: Racing Post via Twitter
Cause Of Causes can go one better
A look at the Grand National betting odds shows Blaklion has dominated the antepost markets, but with a record showing just nine career wins from 25 starts, the Nigel Twiston-Davies trained nine-year-old is better left alone at 12/1. There are bigger prices available about more talented horses.
The ace of our selections is Cause Of Causes for Gordon Elliott. The JP McManus trained gelding came agonisingly close to scratching his name into the history books 12 months ago when ending runner-up behind One For Arthur – beaten by 4 ½ lengths. Starting at a tempting 16/1, the experienced 10-year-old out-ran his price when claiming silver, despite encountering a fair share of trouble along the way.
Source: Racing Post via Twitter
Big price makes pick easy to forgive
With Jamie Codd on his back, the pair were hampered at one of the early jumps and bumped near the end when turning the screw two from home, but stuck to their task to force the issue in the closing stages. With a smoother ride, who knows what would’ve happened? We’ll certainly find out this spring and, with a decent price attached, he looks worth sticking with.
He hasn’t done a lot since that near miss but returning to the scene of the crime should bring the best out of this hopeful. He was nowhere in his first running of 2018 when finishing 15 of 22 at Leopardstown and had to be pulled up by Codd in the Glenfarclas Chase at Cheltenham — a race won by Tiger Roll.
That doesn’t do a lot to inspire confidence but he’s better than the bare results suggest and will show up at Aintree fitter and sharper for the experience.
