Please add all your non Grand National related tips and trends to this page

Some ante-post fingers have been burnt (including my own!) with the loss of the likes of Poker De Sivola, Beshabar, Don’t Push It and Oscar Time from the race already but the prospect is there for some exciting new faces to the race such as Junior, Synchronised, Cappa Bleu and Neptune Collonges to name but a few.

We are also likely to see Grand National stalwarts such as Niche Market, State Of Play and Big Fella Thanks entered again and there undoubtedly will be some surprise entries to get us all scrambling for the form books.

Are you any closer to narrowing down your selections for the race? Let us know who you are considering for the Grand National 2012.

PS Here are the details I have found for entries/weights etc but these aren’t from the Aintree site so not official. If anyone can confirm these please do:

12pm, 31st January – Initial Entry Stage
??pm 14th February – Weights
12pm 28th February – Forfeit Stage
12pm 20th March – Further Forfeit Stage
12pm, 9th April – Confirmation Of Entry Stage

Trainer Martin Lynch stated earlier today that the horse will not run again this season but as the injury is slight connections are hopeful that the horse will make a full recovery and be back for the Grand National in 2013.

The eleven-year-old gelding had made one racecourse appearance this season with a very respectable return over hurdles at Thurles behind Zaidpour.

Bookmakers had been quoting Oscar Time at around the 16/1 mark for the 2012 Grand National and with the recent setback to Beshabar as well punters are now turning to 2011 winner Ballabriggs who is the 16/1 clear favourite with
Skybet

I understand some of you have been experiencing some technical problems over the last few days – apologies for that.

If you are still having problems can you list the details here and I will get someone to look into as soon as possible

Thanks

Darren

Jonjo O’Neill reported that connections had not been happy with the home work of the twelve-year-old and despite what seemed a promising return to the track in a hurdle race in November the decision had been made to call time on Don’t Push It’s racing career.

The JP McManus owned gelding also finished third to Ballabriggs in the 2011 Grand National carrying 11-10 and amassed over three quarters of a million pounds in total career prize money.

He famously gave Denman a scare in their novice chase year running the subsequent Gold Cup winner to three quarters of a length at Cheltenham and he recorded other big wins in the Silver Trophy Hurdle at Chepstow and the John Smiths Handicap Chase at Aintree. In all, he won eight of his twenty-nine races but will most be remembered as the horse that finally broke AP McCoy’s Grand National hoodoo.

A fine horse that deserves a long and happy retirement

This is a page requested by our readers so if you are new to our site please follow the instructions offered by our regulars at the start of the thread.

I have also added some basic stats for the Welsh National which I have amended from last year which are outlined below:

Trainers

Trainers to look out for here are Paul Nicholls (two wins and five placed including a famous 1-2-3 in 2005), Jonjo O’Neill two wins, Alan King one win and three placed and Venetia Williams one win and three placed in the last ten years.
Trainers with a disappointing record include Nicky Henderson and David Pipe who have had just one placed horse in the last ten years. However Pipe jnr will undoubtedly be keen to put that record right given that his father won this race five times in six years back in the 90s.
Irish trainers have had a poor record in this race with the exception of Jim Dreaper who won this race in 2008 with Notre Pere.

Age

None of the last ten winners were aged older than nine so any of this year’s representatives in double figures will have to buck a trend that stretches back to the ten-year-old Riverside Boy in 1993. There have only been three ten-year-old winners since 1976 and no winner over that age.

Recent Form

Nine of the last ten winners had finished in the first four on their most recent start (Synchronised the exception) so coming into this race in decent form seems a big plus given the extreme competitive nature of the race and the inevitable soft conditions also means that fitness is usually at a premium.

Stamina

All ten recent winners had won over at least three miles with six winners having winning form over further. This doesn’t appear a race to take a chance on your selection getting home.

Avoid Over Raced Horses

All of the last ten winners had only run twice in that season at most. It would seem that any horse that has been busy by the time of this race is at a disadvantage.

Course Form

Course experience is always a bonus but this seems to be quite pronounced at Chepstow with seven out of the last ten winners already a winner at the track.

Please now add your thoughts and tips for the 2011 Welsh National to this page

We look forward to hearing your ideas and tips

Please can we make this the main thread for all your comments, suggestions and trends for the Grand National 2012.

Some new names have sprung up over the last few weeks as contenders for the Grand National in the likes of Galaxy Rock, Shakalakaboomboom and Planet Of Sound but the horses with the strongest market support continue to be Beshabar, Becher Chase winner West End Rocker and David Pipe’s Kim Muir winner from last season, Junior.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed recently and we would love to continue hearing your thoughts on what might win the Grand National 2012

I’ve updated where I can so far for the current season (New winners NOT in capitals) and will continue to amend as we go – any ideas for further races that you think might be worthy of Grand National consideration please let me know.

I thought it might be a good idea to have a reference page for all the important dates/races that could have a bearing on the Grand National. I’ll put down a few ideas of races that we might want to have on the list and then open it up to you guys for suggestions. I will also add the various forfeit/closing dates for the Grand National itself and then keep bouncing this article up the menu so it stays fresh and in the five articles currently on view. I have updated the list and added some other dates that may be useful:

Race              Date          Winner

Galway Plate	 July 27th	Blazing Tempo

Kerry National 	 14th September	Alfa Beat

Munster National 9th October	Muirhead

Rewards4Racing 12th November	Galaxy Rock

Paddy Power	 13th November  Great Endeavour

Hennessy	 26th November	Carruthers

Becher Chase	 3rd December	West End Rocker

London National	 4th December	Deep Purple

Majordomo Chase	 10th December  Shakalakboomboom 

Paddy Power(Leop)27th December  Cross Appeal

Welsh National	 27th December   Le Beau Bai

Betfred Classic	 14th January   Hey Big Spender

Peter Marsh	 21st January  According To Pete

Thyestes Chase     26th January   SIEGEMASTER

SkyBet Chase     30th January   ABANDONED

totesport Grand National Trial 19th Feb SILVER BY NATURE

Racing Post Ch   26th February  QUINZ

Eider Chase      26th February COMPANERO

Stewart Family hcap 16th March   BENSALEM

Chelt Gold Cup	  18th March   LONG RUN

Midlands National 19th March   MINELLA FOUR STAR

Topham		  8th April    ALWAYS WAINING

Grand National	  9th April   BALLABRIGGS

Scottish National 16th April   BESHABAR

Bet365 Chase 23rd April   POKER DE SIVOLA

Irish National	  25th April    ORGANISEDCONFUSION

The important dates as far as the entries for the 2012 Grand National will be updated as soon as we have them:

Entries close noon on 31st January.

Weights announced .

First Forfeit Stage noon on 28th February.

2nd Forfeit Stage noon on 20th march.

Confirmation stage 9th April.

Final Decs 12th April.

Race Day April 14th.