Richard Dunwoody picks out three for the National for TRF

[cormack15]

Richard Dunwoody writes a bi-weekly article for The Racing Forum. This week Richard outlines some of his thoughts on this Saturday’s Grand National.

[/url:1ztbf5c6]

The Grand National is the one race that really gets the adrenalin flowing. I’ve enjoyed such good fortune there, having won the big one twice – with West Tip in 1986 and Miinnehoma in 1994 – and been in the money on seven other occasions. It still really is the ‘world’s greatest race’.

I don’t think the race has altered that much. It is the lenient handicapping of high-class horses has attracted a better standard of runner in recent years – and that’s one reason there are more finishers.

Looking at the stats, only two horses have won with an official rating of more than 144 in the last 10 years (Don’t Push It was rated 153 last year, and Mon Mome rated at 148 in 2009 ) and only Don’t Push It and Hedgehunter (in 2005) have carried more than 11st to victory in that span.

With no repeat winner since Red Rum’s 1974 victory, the odds are very much against Don’t Push It, although he has been given a major chance of running another huge race, since he has been raised just 5lb from last season’s triumph.

It does help if your horse loves the unique track. Don’t Push It seems to relish the fences, much like West Tip, who fell at Bechers Brook on the second circuit in 1985, finished fourth in 1987 and 1988, second in 1989, and tenth in 1990.

You need a horse that will obviously stay the 4m 4f trip, but age is not necessarily a factor. Miinnehoma was a high-class chaser who had justified favouritism in the SunAlliance Chase in a then-record time under Peter Scudamore and finished third in the Welsh National. Yet injuries and age had made him a bit of an afterthought in many minds when he arrived at Aintree at the age of 11. He wasn’t very big, but he had a touch of class and he had guts.

I was fortunate enough to put Niche Market through his paces at Ditcheat last Friday (the results you can see during BBC TV’s coverage of Aintree, which starts on Thursday).

Niche Market is a clever horse and a bit of a mickey-taker. His ears were going all the time and he loves to know what’s going on around him. But he is also has a touch of class, as underlined by his 2009 Irish Grand National victory.

I think he’ll give Harry Skelton a great second ride in the National. He was pulled up last year after he sustained a seriously bad cut which required a few weeks’ box rest. Paul Nicholls deserves a change of luck in the race, and he’ll be staying on when many have cried ‘enough’.

Ballabriggs was marked down as one of my horses to follow at the start of the season and I’ve no reason to desert him now. He won the Kim Muir last year and produced a highly pleasing performance in defeat at Kelso on his return to chasing last month.

That trio should give punters a run for their money, although I’d be keen to see them in the parade ring beforehand. It is a big occasion and how a horse handles the preliminaries is a major factor to consider.

Good luck. But remember, it’s the National – you need more than a slice of it!

Richard Dunwoody’s Professional Pay As You Win Service April Special Offer.

Notable results this year include Anne Of Kiev W9/2, Numide W4/1, Honourable Arthur W7/2 & April Fool W7/2. 

It’s FREE to join – all you do is pay for winners!  And as a special offer for Racing Forum members – if you join using the following promo code RF50 – we will give you your first £50 of winners FREE.  Please click here for further detail http://www.richarddunwoody.co.uk

[360 degrees]

1st, 3rd & 5th – says it all, really.

‘Well Done!’ to Mr Dunwoody.

[ChrisHardiman]

Just thought id have a look at Dunwoodys Tip as a matter of interest only to discover the mans a genius! Picked the winner at 14/1, the 3rd at 9/1 and the 5th at 16/1. 3 tips and all of them placed depending on if you went with a bookie paying 5 places, pretty incredible

I thought my bets Big Fella Thanks, Dont Push It and State Of Play had given me a good run for my money but Dunwoodys tips blew me out of the water. Well done sir

[cormack15]

Great tipping there – can’t argue with it.

[Fredkinstein]

Richard Dunwoody writes a bi-weekly article for The Racing Forum. This week Richard outlines some of his thoughts on this Saturday’s Grand National.

Thanks Richard. I backed my first ever G Nat winner.

[callumleemiddleton]

is this service any good? and can i just take the tips to the bookies and play with and lose my own stakes?????

[Author]

Posts