Grand National Blog

How many entries? The entries for the 2008 Grand National have been announced and with 150 horses entered at the pre-weights stage we have the second largest entry in history. Only in 2005 were more horses entered and the BHA Handicapper Phil Smith faces a mammoth task in trying to allocate weights to all the [...]

Point Barrow Point Barrow caught the eye in the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park on the 24th January when keeping on over three miles to finish a very respectable fourth to Priests Leap. Pat Hughes’ ten year-old had to burden top weight of 11st 4lbs in heavy ground and the first time blinkers seemed to [...]

Hi Cloy – Don’t even bother looking up the form, he’s a two and a half miler! Michael Hourigan’s Hi Cloy won the two and half mile Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles recently and the trainer immediately nominated the Grand National as the target for this winner of four Grade One races and ten races [...]

Willie Mullins’ charge Snowy Morning continues to be well backed for the Grand National following the Irish trainer’s assertion earlier this month that the Aintree race would be the horse’s target and not the Gold Cup. The eight year old gelding was favourite for the Hennessy at Newbury in November but fell at the seventh [...]

The National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival has been the subject of much debate over the years and, in some cases, calls for its removal from the calendar after four fatalities in the last two years. The result has been for the race to be reduced in distance from 4m 1f to 3m 6f. [...]

Last season’s Irish National winner Butler’s Cabin made a pleasing return to action at Leicester on the 9th January when a staying on third behind Jack The Giant, beaten nineteen lengths. Connections have stated that Butler’s Cabin has had plenty of rest since his hard season last year and that he will need plenty of [...]

Some people love them, some people hate them but statistics are now a big part of the information allocated alongside the big races in the racing calendar. No race is bigger than the Grand National and one of the most interesting stats is the poor record of previous winners when they come back to try [...]

Long range ante-post punters will be reeling with the news that last year’s BetFred Gold Cup and Scottish Grand National winner Hot Weld has been withdrawn from the 2008 Grand National at Aintree. Ferdy Murphy reported that his star stayer would be out for the season with a leg problem. However, the North Yorkshire trainer [...]

Six out of the last ten Grand National winners have been trained in Ireland but yet most punters knowledge of Irish form is sketchy to say the least – so perhaps it is time to delve deeper into the background required of the raiders from across the sea? What, if anything, do the recent Irish [...]