Dutchman is edam good bet
IT may be named the Betfred Grand National Trial but in reality today’s feature at Haydock is nothing of the sort.
No horse since the race’s inception in 1948 has gone on from victory here to land Aintree’s April showpiece in the same season.
However, it remains a contest that contains plenty of trends — the most important to find our winner being:
Won between two and four times over fences with at least one over three miles.
Rated no lower than 130.
Finished in the first three last time out. Aged 10 or younger. We are now down to only two qualifiers from eight starters — Blaklion, The Dutchman.
There’s already lots of talk that today’s likely favourite Blaklion is the one to beat in this year’s Grand National, but he needs to put up a mighty performance to give weight away this afternoon.
That leaves the way open for Colin Tizzard’s THE DUTCHMAN despite a hike in the weights following a dominant display when winning the Peter Marsh at this track last month.
He has less miles on the clock than Blaklion and there still seems room for manoeuvre in his new mark, while jockey Danny Cook knows him well.
Have 4pts win at 5-1 in places.