The Grand National Trial is a Grade Three race for horses aged five years and over and is held over a distance of 3m 4f at Haydock Park.
The contest provides National Hunt racing fans with further clues ahead of the Grand National itself in April, and this year the race includes seven horses that have also been entered for the Aintree marathon.
Those horses and their respective positions in the Aintree weights are as follows: Elegant Escape (8), Ballyoptic (19), Yala Enki (21), Vintage Clouds (30), One For Arthur (52), Lord Du Mesnil (57) and Steely Addition (60).
Trends & Statistics
- Age: 10/10 winners were aged between 8 and 10.
- Price: 2/10 favourites have won, 4/10 winners were from the top 3 in the horse racing betting.
- Previous run: 6/10 won on their last run before the Grand National Trial, 10/10 winners ran within the last 54 days. 4/10 winners ran in the Welsh National on their last outing, 1 won and 1 placed.
- Rating: 8/10 winners were rated 138 or higher.
- Course form: 9/10 winners had at least 1 previous run at Haydock, 3/10 winners had at least 1 previous win at Haydock.
- Graded wins: 5/10 winners had at least 1 previous win in a Grade 1-3 race.
Runner-by-runner guide:
Elegant Escape (Colin Tizzard)
Colin Tizzard’s eight-year-old may not have managed to get his head back in front since he landed the 2018 Welsh Grand National but he is still clearly the class act in this field.
Placed in two Ladbrokes Trophy’s, he’s the highest rated of any of his Aintree comtempories here and he should go well.
However, as a betting proposition he’s probably one to be wary of as top weights with serious Grand National credentials traditionally tend to be “looked after” in this contest.
Yala Enki (Paul Nicholls)
Yala Enki won this race in 2018 by an absolute street when he was trained by Venetia Williams and comes into this race on the back of a tidy win in the Portman Cup at Taunton.
The ten-year-old races off an 11lb higher mark than his 2018 victory but he is clearly in good heart and appears to relish the testing conditions at Haydock.
He potentially stands on the verge of sporting history after this race when he will be ridden next time by Bryony Frost, who will be bidding to become the first female rider to win the Grand National.
For those reasons alone he’s not a win bet for me in the context of this race.
Ballyoptic (Nigel Twiston-Davies)
Ballyoptic won Wetherby's Charlie Hall Chase back in November when his stamina came to the fore in the deteriorating conditions at the West Yorkshire track.
If the forecasters are to be believed we could be heading for a similarly grotesque afternoon on Saturday which would bring the ten-year-old right into play.
Ballyoptic was a Scottish National runner-up and was still going well when falling late on in last year’s Grand National, so this is the perfect prep race for him.
Vintage Clouds (Sue Smith)
Vintage Clouds scored by seven lengths here in the Peter Marsh Chase last month, galloping his rivals into submission from the front.
His Haydock record is impeccable and reads like this - 12222F32131 and he is clearly in his element over park fences.
Two outings over the Aintree fences have been fruitless to say the least, so this race can be classed as his own personal Grand National and he should reward the each-way backers.
One For Arthur (Lucinda Russell)
Lucinda Russell is no stranger to landing the silverware in this race after she sent out the aptly named Silver By Nature to land back-to-back renewals in 2010 and 2011 and again with Lie Forrit in 2015.
The 2017 Grand National hero has been slowly but surely nursed back to health after an injury and is apparently in rude health at the moment.
Lie Forrit won this as an eleven-year-old so don’t let the recent age statistics put you off him.
Steely Addition (Philip Hobbs)
Steely Addition was entered for the Welsh National but unfortunately never made it there and this is his first run for 97 days.
The eight-year-old appears to perform well at undulating tracks so a flat track like Haydock is somewhat of a worry.
Lord Du Mesnil (Richard Hobson)
This talented seven-year-old has clocked up an impressive three-timer and taken two of Haydock Park’s most esteemed staying chases over the winter.
He’s also gone up 25lbs to boot, but will that be enough to bring his winning streak to an end?
One thing is for certain – he will jump boldly from the front and will give you a good run for your money, win or lose.
The Two Amigos (Nicky Martin)
This race is quite often a misnomer when it comes to the race title as a horse without a Grand National entry regularly goes on to win it. This year that very horse could be The Two Amigos.
The gelding was quite well fancied in this last year (fell at the 14th) and receives lumps of weight from the likes of Elegant Escape, Yala Enki and Ballyoptic.
Being an eight-year-old also ticks another box in his favour and on the whole he’s a sound jumper.
Geronimo (Sandy Thomson)
Geronimo stayed on well in the Peter Marsh Chase to finish third behind Vintage Clouds.
Whether a turnabout in the weights will be enough to reverse that form, I have my doubts, as he was making no impression over an ever shorter distance that day.
Pobbles Bay (Evan Williams)
A ten-year-old gelding who tends to save all his best performances for the Welsh tracks. He looks well up against it in this company though despite his low weight.
Smooth Stepper (Alex Hales)
A likeable veteran who was formerly trained by Sue Smith and had a certain degree of success under her tutelage. So far the eleven-year-old has failed to get his head in front for his current trainer.
Conclusion: Who Wins?
As I mentioned earlier in the piece, if we even manage to get to this race in the Saturday afternoon proceedings then stamina will most certainly come into the equation.
The two horses I feel would be best equipped to cope with the conditions are Ballyoptic (nb *with a run) and Vintage Clouds (nap), with my slight preference just going to the latter.
888sport suggests: Vintage Clouds e/w
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Thibault Camus / AP Photo*
