I’ve cracked the National code... here’s the result!

WHAT a place this is and what a race we have in store. The excitement I have on Grand National morning is the same as it was when I first watched it, with my Grandfather, all those years ago.

The National and the FA Cup final were the foundations of my sporting childhood, the days I’d dream about when you’d see history unfold before your eyes. On Wednesday, when all was quiet at Aintree, I walked the course and reflected on the privilege I have presenting this great race.

I made reference in last week’s column to the nerves that I feel before going on air, but that’s because I know what the National means to so many of you. You’ll all have stories about the years you backed the winner.

This is the day, of course, when the nation has a flutter. People often ask me whether I join in, given I’m in front of a camera. You better believe I do! Trying to crack the National code is something I try to do from the moment the weights are revealed in February.

So this is how I see it going: there are two horses in this 34-run contest that could blow it apart. Nassalam, so spectacular when winning the Welsh Grand National at Christmas, would be a danger to all if he gets loose at the head of the field.

He could easily build up an insurmountable advantage, as he did at Chepstow, and Gary Moore, his trainer, is a master. Those comments also apply to Willie Mullins, trainer of I Am Maximus, another capable of running everything else ragged.

I Am Maximus won the Irish Grand National 12 months ago and has the profile of so many past winners. He has been victorious at Grade One level, has loads of class and it would be no surprise if one day he runs in a Cheltenham Gold Cup.

But I’m sticking to my guns. The Chamberlin pound each-way went on Panda Boy in February and I’m expecting him to be there when it matters at the end. Martin Brassil (left), his trainer, won the National with Numbersixvalverde in 2006 and always has his horses cheery ripe when it matters.

He will stay on best of all to