The greatest horse race in the world, the John Smith’s Grand National worth £975,000.00, will go off at 4.15 pm this Saturday the 14th of April. There will be a maximum field of 40 runners.

The fences are not as daunting as they were back in 1960 when Merryman II (pictured) won the first televised Grand National.  Not many will truly stay the 4 miles 4 furlongs but we know last years winner, Ballabriggs, will and he must have a good chance of winning it again.

Synchronised adds a touch of class to the field this year having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He had a mighty hard race there. On faster ground than he likes he might struggle to keep up and it will be difficult to come from behind at Aintree.

Cappa Bleu looked an exciting prospect when he won the Christie’s Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup at Cheltenham back in 2009. He has obviously had his problems but returned to racing this season and has shown good form in his three races.

Always Right, a former hunter chaser like Merryman II, ran third in the Scottish Grand National over 4 miles last season. He has recently had a soft palate operation and if that has been successful he is capable of running a big race. Enjoy the race and be lucky!

1		3-P7311	Synchronised (IRE) 29	9	11-10	Jonjo O’Neill	A P McCoy
2		1/1121-4	BallaBriggs (IRE) 42	11	11-9	D McCain Jnr	J M Maguire
3		18P-13P	Weird Al (IRE) 29	9	11-8	D McCain Jnr	T J Murphy
4		86-P422	Neptune Collonges (FR) 56	11	11-6	P F Nicholls	D A Jacob
5		2F-8511	Calgary Bay (IRE) 77	9	11-6	Miss H C Knight	D Elsworth
6		6741UP	Alfa Beat (IRE) 49	8	11-5    b	J J Hanlon	D N Russell
7		01/35-23	Planet of Sound 49	10	11-5    t	P J Hobbs	R Johnson
8		1U022/2	Black Apalachi (IRE) 49	13	11-3    p	D T Hughes	D F O’Regan
9		3U34-1F	Deep Purple 49	11	11-3	Evan Williams	J E Moore
10		1/321-82	Junior 42	9	11-2    b	D Pipe	T Scudamore
11		8-U3732	Chicago Grey (IRE) 56	9	10-13    t	G Elliott	P Carberry
12		170-715	Tatenen (FR) 56	8	10-13	R Rowe	A Thornton
13		1/11111	Seabass (IRE) 48	9	10-12	T M Walsh	Ms K Walsh
14		97-1122	Shakalakaboomboom (IRE) 34	8	10-12	N J Henderson	B J Geraghty
15		11PB-P1	West End Rocker (IRE) 133	10	10-12	A King	W Hutchinson
16		2-37112	According To Pete 42	11	10-12	J M Jefferson	Harry Haynes
17		14P1-B1	On His Own (IRE) 79	8	10-11	W P Mullins	R Walsh
18		113-1PP	Always Right (IRE) 56	10	10-10	J Wade	J Reveley
19		F2P/133	Cappa Bleu (IRE) 56	10	10-10    t	Evan Williams	Paul Moloney
20		345053	Rare Bob (IRE) 34	10	10-9	D T Hughes	Bryan J cooper
21		2-133F5	Organisedconfusion (IRE) 35	7	10-8	A L T Moore	Miss N Carberry
22		P-51423	Treacle (IRE) 62	11	10-8	T J Taaffe	A E Lynch
23		16-B439	The Midnight Club (IRE) 29	11	10-8	W P Mullins	P Townend
24		F/52PP0	Mon Mome (FR) 32	12	10-8	Miss V Williams	Aidan Coleman
25		9P2F-60	Arbor Supreme (IRE) 122	10	10-7      t1	Jonjo O’Neill	M P Walsh
26		F-37P91	Sunnyhillboy (IRE) 30	9	10-5	Jonjo O’Neill	R P Mclernon
27		030341	Killyglen (IRE) 28	10	10-4    t	S R B Crawford	R M Power
28		2F-4910	Quiscover Fontaine (FR) 77	8	10-4	W P Mullins	D J Casey
29		P13077	Tharawaat (IRE) 49	7	10-4    t	G Elliott	B T O’Connell
30		F-63F22	Becauseicouldntsee (IRE) 30	9	10-3	N F Glynn	D J Condon
31		144P3/4-	State of Play 371	12	10-3	Evan Williams	N Fehily
32		313P20	Swing Bill (FR) 30	11	10-3    p	D Pipe	Conor O’farrell
33		P-26611	Postmaster 17	10	10-2    t	Tim Vaughan	D C Costello
34		P22-121	Giles Cross (IRE) 56	10	10-1	V R A Dartnall	P J Brennan
35		1/17P-16	Midnight Haze 32	10	10-0	K C Bailey	S Quinlan
36		4B-2110	Vic Venturi (IRE) 62	12	10-0    p	D T Hughes	Harry Skelton
37		31U0-P3	In Compliance (IRE) 28	12	10-0	D T Hughes	N P Madden
38		0-143P5	Viking Blond (FR) 56	7	10-0    b	N A Twiston-Davies	B Hughes
39		P-5U654	Hello Bud (IRE) 42	14	10-0    t	N A Twiston-Davies	S Twiston-Davies
40		315045	Neptune Equester 42	9	10-0	B Ellison	Felix De Giles
41		32-3P47	Any Currency (IRE) 77	9	10-0    p	M Keighley	Reserve 1
42		292658	Our Island (IRE) 31	7	10-0    p	Tim Vaughan	Reserve 2
43		1P/FP33	Abbeybraney (IRE) 42	11	10-0	G Bewley	Reserve 3
44		341064	Smoking Aces (IRE) 34	8	10-0    p	T J Taaffe	Reserve 4