The 2013 Grand National part 2 ... The challengers

@aintreeinfo - pls follow us on twitter.

Welcome to part 2 of our our end of year blog and as Eddie Murphy said in Trading Places, "Merry New Year" .....In this part we are focusing on the key trials and those horses currently at the head of the market for the Grand National.

There is a twist though. We have 2 x £5 bets for the race up for grabs. We currently have 2 main fancies which will be revealed at the end but you can choose your own. One bet will go to one of our existing followers who Retweets- the second one will go to one of our new followers. Both bets will be released once we get to 500 followers so pls help us.

Onto business. The obvious trial to look at first is the Becher Chase. The winner was the magnificent Hello Bud who has finally been retired since. What a way to go out ! Doth of cap to that fella. Next home was Join Together. Currently near the head of the market and a promising novice hurdler and chaser, for us he may now be firmly on the radar of the 'Simon Cowell of the National' .... Mr Phil Smith. One of our old favourites, Big Fella Thanks, showed the usual improvement upon leaving Ferdy's yard and despite Tom George's reservations we would love to see him have one last crack if the ground is good to soft or better, especially at the 210.0 currently available on Betfair. The next 2 home, In Compliance and Swing Bill are easily passed over but in 6th, Gullible Gordon is of huge interest. His train, Peter Bowen, has a great record here (see Always Waining) and would dearly love to win this prize. This horse was a casualty of the Harry Findlay issue and has ended up in great hands and for us remains under the radar, having won the Desert Orchid cup (3m 3 1/2f) at Wincanton off 134 around 2 yrs ago. Injury prone since he remains unexposed and took to the fences well in the Becher. Even off his current mark of 130 he is of interest though it must be noted that bottom horse last year was 132 so is on the cusp.

One of the other key trials is the Hennessy. I'm pretty sure that the prominent finishers won't line up at Aintree, even though we think First Lieutenant or Tidal Bay could surprise a few (UPDATE : both now doubtful after great Lexus performances). One key trend over the last few years is that horses carrying weight in the National now have a real chance, as do older horses (see State Of Play, Don't Push It, Neptune Collonges etc.). This is partly because the standard of the 40 entrants is getting better. The race is less risky and fairer and in our opinion, Phil Smith does a great job at the weights, absolutely spot-on. Anyway, back to Newbury, and those filling positions 4-9th all remain of interest, particularly Teaforthree who looked all over a National horse when winning the 4-miler at Cheltenham.

A quick word on the JP McManus pair of Sunnhillboy and Alfie Sherrin who both recently ran very unassuming races and are high on our agenda. Of JPs other horses, recent Leopardstown winner Colbert Station appears more of an Irish National type to us for now, though Ted Walsh was quoted as saying:
"He is lightly raced and that was only his fifth run over fences. Like a lot of the others we had this race in mind for a while. I was a bit disappointed with him in Navan but the horse that beat him (Roi Du Mee) was so well in. He might be an English National horse in time."

Looking at recent action over here, Ascot's Silver Cup runners Hey Big Spender and Hold On Julio must be watched and Cannington Brook must be respected on soft or worse ground though his weight rise won't help.

Junior is now very much above his station for us, particularly after a further weight rise for winning a very soft Rehearsal Chase and faded badly at Kempton when tried higher.

We would like to see Cape Tribulation line up one day, a fact further highlighted by a very easy Rowland Meyrick win. He is one of the most consistent NH horses in training.

Now for a bit of an off the wall run. Prince De Beauchene lined up at Limerick on 27th Dec in a conditions hurdle after a lay-off and fairly sluiced home against decent opposition. Fancied last year after a good Bobbyjo chase winner and as a previous Aintree winner, he is massively respected.

Finally, here's a few still to be watched: Alfie Spinner, Seabass, Cappa Bleu, On His Own, Ballabriggs, Harry The Viking, Oscar Time , Tharawaat, Killyglen, Planet Of Sound.

Of this list we particularly like Ballabriggs. Campaigned selectively since his win and now only 2lbs higher than when winning he ticks the ground, trip, aintree-factor and distance boxes. Hopefully, his weight won't rise too much further for his previous win.

We also respect Cappa Bleu who was nowhere near fit on his reappearance at Carlisle. Evan Williams is doing a 'State Of Play' one feels and just honing him for the big day.

Who do you like .... Let us know and tweet or comment below.

Now onto our 2 main fancies at this point - the first is Teaforthree and the second is Ballabriggs. All may change once the weights are announced.

If you win we will DM you for details and would like you to RT to prove you do not already know us!

Thankyou for reading and feel free to comment on anything you think or anything we do,

Happy new year

@aintreeinfo

The 2013 Grand National part 1 ... the changes

@aintreeinfo - follow us on Twitter

Hi, hope you are all enjoying the Christmas and New Year's celebration. The 'Mince-pie mountain' has nearly gone in our house now.

As 2012 draws to a close, we're publishing 2 new blogs this weekend (the 2nd one has our first offer so keep an eye out) to take a look at some of the market leaders and key pointers to the 2013 Grand National, being held at the world famous Aintree Racecourse. 

We'll also take a look at the key changes that have been made to the race this year and how that may affect things so let's deal with that first in this update. In summary, the changes are as follows :

- There are sixteen fences on the National course, four have been altered. The 3rd, 11th, 13th and 14th fences of the course used to be made from a hard timber frame which was padded with foam. They were trialed at the Becher meeting with a softer padding, assuming that it will reduce the chances of the horse falling over if they knock their legs on the fence following a poor jump. As before though, if a horse connected with the solid fence then it would result in a fall.
- The height of the fences will not be altered, as lower fences would increase the horses’ speeds and consequently cause further problems and injuries.
- The length of the race was previously four and a half miles, it will now be four miles and three-and-a-half furlongs - a reduction of ninety yards at the start in an attempt to slow down the annual cavalry charge.
- The start will also have a new 'no-go' zone as the horses line-up in order to prevent early tape-breaks by keen jockeys. 
- An investment will be made into the irrigation of the race course, to ensure safe jumping ground.
- Also, changes will be made which will make it easier for horses that have lost their riders to be taken off the course as soon as possible.

These alterations have been approved by many parties, including the RSPCA’s Equine Consultant, David Muir. He commented to Atthraces in September:

We don't want to ruin the Grand National, we don't want to ruin the ethos of the Grand National - we want to ensure that when we have horses going round they get to the other end of the race.

What do we do? Do we keep going at 40 (runners)? Let's try 30, we tried 30 last year in the Fox Hunters' and I know they only go round once but we had a lot of horses getting round, over two-thirds of the field and in the National we had less than half.

In the last 10 years we have had an increase in fallers and fatalities. Is it the course, is it the horses? We've got to try and find out what it is.

The fence changes are a definite help. Less fallers = less race-bashers. Win ! No changes to the height of the fences is also a good thing - after all this is The National, it's supposed to be spectacular and indeed it will still make jockeys take more care and slow down. I'm not convinced that the reduction of 90 yds will stop the charge to the 1st. It may even have an adverse affect as jockeys have less time to get to their desired position, only time will tell.
The irrigation has been a must for a few years now as we have seen good weather for the meeting for quite a few years now. We haven't seen the likes of ground that brought Earth Summit and Red Marauder's wins recently. Finally, the removal of horses as soon as possible is also welcomed, mainly to avoid BD's.

Hope you've enjoyed reading this - if you have please Retweet - if not, comment below and tell us what you think and why,

seasons greetings, @aintreeinfo

Boxing Day action and Leopardstown today

Yesterday, saw Cape Tribulation win the Rowland Meyrick and Long Run 'stay' his way to a 2nd King George. Both on 'King Wenceslas ground' ... Deep, uncrisp but even.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to New Year.

Yesterday saw the usual glut of Boxing Day racing and runs from some potential National contenders. Our fancy, Cape Tribulation, won very well at Wetherby and to be honest his price of 7/2 was great value as he was 16lb lower back over fences than his hurdle mark. He is a really consistent type who the handicapper must love to use as a yardstick and must be a pleasure to own. Aintree could be on the agenda one day and bear in mind he has never fell.

We also had the winner of the King George in Long Run and although a burst of finishing speed saw him through, as thought, he effectively stayed better than the rest. It seems more and more imperative for him to need a stamina test these days. We could have him as a future National type, but not under the current jockey, although we'll leave that discussion for now. I wouldn't discount anything from that race next time out as most didn't stay on the ground though obviously the next few ran with great credit, particularly Captain Chris. The main National contender in the race was Junior who tried to make all before fizzling and was beaten 28 lengths. A 3lb rise for winning a very soft renewal of the Rehearsal Chase last time may also burden him back in H'cap company so he's a little stuck for options now and we watch with interest where he goes next. He may have missed his big Aintree chance when not getting in the race in 2011.

Some quality racing today too, however we've had the misfortune of losing Chepstow, therefore our main interest today is at Leopardstown where they run the Paddy Power Steeplechase at 3.10pm.  A very competitive h'cap with a first prize of 106,800 euros, many trainers will have been targeting this for a while.  It's not too often you can say that horses has travelled over to Ireland for better ground but that will be the case today for Alfie Sherrin and Prince Of Pirates. We like the former who is still on a realistic weight, is proven over trip/ground and his Cheltenham and Fairyhouse form are top-notch. He has a real shout but has been bypassed by AP who rides Colbert Station.  As for Prince Of Pirates, he appears to have too much weight for his form and may be there in an attempt by JP McManus to try and have every runner in a 28 runner h'cap !! After all he does have 7 (25% of field) and also has the 2nd reserve.

Looking back at last year's National, the bottom horse got in off 132 so quite a few of these could turn up at Aintree.

Of the home side, Tharawaat came 8th at Aintree this year, but it's interesting to see Gordon Elliott comment this morning that the ground is probably not soft enough, though he is a thorough stayer. He prefers his Romanesco who may have each-way claims under Nina Carberry. Like Your Style is very much progressing the right way and can figure. Glenquest may be better on softer but has the right credentials. We don't like either of the favourites, Colbert Station or Glam Gerry. Yes, they're unexposed but too many questions to be answered.

Our fancy is Ninetieth Minute (pictured below), who was a very good hurdler, and has some decent chase form, particularly at Punchestown last May. He has the measure of Like Your Style, who we previously mentioned, based on that run. Mr Taaffe must rate him and think he stays as he was sent off at 10/1 for the Irish National. At around 14/1 he makes for value.

Happy punting !

Pls follow us on Twitter - @aintreeinfo

Merry Christmas all

First of all Merry Christmas to all of you and your families and loved ones.

Secondly, thankyou for following our Twitter account and/or blog.

Aintree Info (@aintreeinfo) has been created by a bunch of racing enthusiasts who love horse racing and love the Grand National in particular. We will focus on the key trials and contenders leading up to the big race itself. We will also help with any questions you may have. As locals, we are open to any questions and would love to help where we can. Be it a question about transport, places to go, the course and its facilities, hotel proximity, bets, anything ... just ask and we will try to answer.

We have attended the meeting for around 35 years now and have seen Aintree transform from a meeting that almost didn't happen in the early 80s to the true festival it is now.

Our account is literally days old and we already have close on 300 followers. Thanks to all that have followed and particularly those that have retweeted, we really do appreciate it. As with all life, we have also had some negatives .. quite sad really but human nature is a strange thing.   You .... the follower always has the final choice though. We hope you like what we do though.

Will we bring anything different? Maybe ... at this point we are not sure where this will go. We will try to bring news, humour, guest interviews, an alternative angle possibly ...  but most of all a key focus on the Grand National itself, building up the picture week by week.

We were very excited last night when @neptunecollonges followed us first! A simple retweet and some of you then joined the official account of the 2012 champion.

Enough from us for now, please keep following, tell us what you'd like to see us cover and finally, it just remains to say ...

Merry Christmas.