To those of a certain age it will probably always be “The Whitbread” as the race was run under that banner from its inception in 1957 until 2001, the longest running sponsorship in the sport.

There have been some top class winners of the Sandown race over the years including Arkle, Mill House, The Dikler and Desert Orchid.

This race also provided one of the best finishes ever seen in a National Hunt race when in 1984 Special Cargo was victorious in a heart-pumping, two short head victory from two-time winner Diamond Edge and Lettoch.

The 2009 version promises to be another thriller with a host of good horses entered at this stage including Grand National fourth State Of Play, Irish Grand National runner-up Church Island and Topham Chase runner-up Oodachee.

Current favourite is the Paul Nicholls’ trained Hoo Loo Baloo who is a best priced 7/1 with Stan James.

Check back later in the week when we will be looking at some more of the prices on offer but start giving us your idea of the winner of this wonderful old race.

The winner of the competition was Peewakio who did a great job in selecting Comply Or Die, Big Fella Thanks, Butlers Cabin and Southern Vic and in doing so got all his four selections in the top ten.

We had a tie for third place with four entries scoring 180 points. Three of those entries couldn’t be split as they were all the same amount away from the correct distance so we are going to award £5 to each of the three people who we could not split for third place. Commiserations to The Shark who just missed out by half a length on making it a four way split!

So the full details of the winners, scores and prizes is as follows:

1st: Peewakio 270 Points £15
2nd: dragonman 200 Points £10
Tied 3rd: SOOTYDOGGOLF 180 Points £5
Tied 3rd: Brody 180 Points £5
Tied 3rd : Johnny Valentine: 180 points £5

Could all the winners e-mail their usernames from Grand National Guide and their usernames from OLBG to:

community@invendium.co.uk

Thanks a lot

The Scottish National can prove to be a useful guide to winners at Aintree with Comply Or Die, Earth Summit and Little Polveir all previous runners in the Scottish National (although not necessarily the year before winning at Aintree). The fact that both races are usually run on good ground gives a really clear indication of the type of horse that will stay extreme distances on that type of underfoot conditions.

Here are the current top fancies and their best odds at time of writing:

Chief Dan George 7/1 Bet365 Click here for £100 of free bets Bet365

Tricky Trickster 8/1 Coral. Click here for £20 free bet Coral.

Nine De Sivola 9/1 Boylesports Click here for £200 of free bets Boylesports

West End Rocker 12/1 VCBet Click here for £50 free bet VCBet

Merigo 12/1 Paddy Power Click here for Bet £10 Get £20 Free Paddy Power

Russian Trigger 12/1 Stan James. Click here for £25 free bet Stan James.

Recent winners at Fairyhouse Butlers Cabin and Hear The Echo have gone on to be well supported at Aintree and Bobbyjo and Numbersixvalverde have managed to win both races.

Even though Fairyhouse is a right handed track the test of stamina and the extremely testing fences ensure that it compares favourably with any of the other races seen as a “prep” race for future Aintree winners.

This year the race at Fairyhouse in on Monday 13th April and currently there are 73 runners engaged with bookmakers showing a variety of horses at the top of a very open market. A number of the currently fancied runners include: Witchita Lineman, Emma Jane, Royal County Star and Welsh National hero Notre Pere.

By the sounds of things you are keen just to get a thread up and running on this race so I’ll leave it there for the time being.

Good luck.

Apologies for the loss of the blog for a while there yesterday – we had a few technical problems and it was just not possible to keep the blog online throughout a hugely busy time for this site.

Also, it may take me till tomorrow afternoon to catch up and announce the winner of the Grand National Tipster competition – I hope you will bear with me.

Next, could we start using this thread as the final analysis point for the 2009 Grand National. I let the last post carry on longer than I should have (again!) really because of the strength of the postings but if we could all move on to here now that would be most appreciated. So, please, let us all know how you felt about GN 2009 on this thread.

Lastly, keep an eye out for Scottish and Irish Grand National threads starting up in the next few days as well as a thread for the 2010 Grand National. I hope you will all stay with us and tell all your friends next year so we continue to make this the biggest and best Grand National blog on the Internet. We really appreicate all your input – thanks very much and I hope you managed to show a profit in 2009.

Admin (Darren)

One piece of advice to remember on Grand National day is to make sure you take the price available of your selection when you place your bet. The reason for this is that bookmakers traditionally cut the odds of many of the horses running on Grand National day due the vast amounts of money gambled so if you don’t take the price advertised at the time you place your bet you will be paid out at the much shorter starting price.

In a few occasions the prices do get bigger but many bookmakers offer concessions that will pay out on the larger odds in these circumstances so it nearly always pays to take a price on Grand National day.

Open an account online with Boylesports

Good luck!

But who will go off favourite? The market seems particualrly volatile with My Will and Butlers Cabin’s prices fluctuating in and out over the last few days and it would seem that a last minute gamble could be brewing. But on what?

Could it be an inspired Irish plunge on Hear The Echo, Black Apalachi or Southern Vic? Or will a lurker like State Of Play or Darkness suddenly pick up the groundswell and make a Monkerhostin style charge to favouritism?

Or perhaps the Grand National Blogs most tipped horse, Rambling Minster, will end up favourite for the 2009 Grand National?

What do you think?

boylesports

POSITIVES:
Young and improving: A lot has been written about the benefits of experience around Aintree but surely being an up and coming chaser must also count for a lot? At eight years old Hear The Echo should be in his prime

Won the Irish Grand National: The Irish Grand National has become a great trial for the Aintree equivalent with a number of horses running in both races. Bobbyjo and Numbersixvalverde won at Aintree and Fairyhouse.

Proven stamina and ability to go on good ground: His win at Fairyhouse illustrates his ability to go at least 3m 6f and it also showed good ground holds no fears for him. It also demonstrates that he has the class to win a race of this nature – how many other horses in this race would be able to win a race worth 100k?

NEGATIVES:

Jumping: For me this is the big sticking point. Hear The Echo has now fell or unseated four times in his career – a very large amount for a potential Grand National winner. On the positive side of that argument Fairyhouse is a very tough track to jump round and he managed that well last year so perhaps his jumping problems are largely behind him and his latest error was just a tired fall over a distance too short?

Weight: It’s well documented that horses with more than 11stone tend to fare badly in the Grand National although there is an argument that this might come to an end now we are getting better horses attracted to the race. However, 11 stone 5lb seems a hefty enough weight compared to another Irish Grand National winner Butlers Cabin who races off 10st 13lb.

These are just a few of the plusses and minuses about a very interesting (and controversial?) horse. But can he win a Grand National?

Tell us what you think?

The rumour mill had been working overtime that the McCoy had chosen L’Ami and that horse contracted in price as a result but that horse will now be ridden by Robert Thornton.