Get the videos ready: not only is The Topham a great race to have a bet in it is a valuable tool for assessing the likely chances of future Grand National winners. Three National winners in the last ten years alone have gone on from a run in The Topham to winning a National (Bindaree, Monty’s Pass, Amberleigh House) so this race will be necessary viewing for those of us thinking past just the 2008 Grand National.

The field is littered with horses suggested as National possibles, including those who may have run in the big race but for failing to make the cut. Horses such as:

In The High Grass
You’re Special
Irish Raptor
Bothar Na
Pak Jak
Dunbrody Millar
Theatre Knight
I Hear Thunder

But who will win The Topham?

The Topham tends to fall to horses at the lower end of the handicap and this race has apparently been the target all season of Willie Mullins’ Bothar Na. He has had two spins round the fences before and the trainer has won the race before in 2002 with It’s Time For A Win.

Other horses who may appeal at bigger odds are former Sefton Chase winner I Hear Thunder and the Ferdy Murphy trained You’re Special. The latter would be a little older than some recent winners but had been talked of as a National ‘type’ for some time and it will be interesting to see how he gets on over these fences.

Your thoughts?

Who do you fancy? Are there any of the field who you think could potentially come back for next year’s National? Come back on after the race as well and let us know what you thought of the race and if there were any clues to take away for future Nationals.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 11:46 am and is filed under Aintree 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.