National Cap should fit for clever Trevor
HOT favourite Cloth Cap will aim to give owner Trevor Hemmings a record fourth win in tomorrow’s Grand National following the successes of Hedgehunter, Ballabriggs and Many Clouds.
Trainer Jonjo O’Neill is chasing his second National, having won with Don’t Push It, and at 4/1 Cloth Cap will start at the same short odds as Tiger Roll when he won for the second time in 2019 – the last time the famous steeplechase was run.
There will be no Tiger Roll hat-trick bid, sadly, with the 11-year-old, who finished fourth in the Betway Bowl at Aintree yesterday, withdrawn by connections who were unhappy with his handicap mark.
An impressive winner of the Ladbrokes Trophy who has since bolted up at Kelso, Cloth Cap’s third place in the 2019 Scottish
National over four miles demonstrates his staying prowess and it’s hard to find a negative as he jumps and stays well.
Any Second Now is also fancied to provide trainer Ted Walsh with another famous National victory – 21 years after the heavily backed Papillon brought the house down when winning under his son Ruby. A couple of decades on, the JP McManus-owned Any Second Now will line up with a not dissimilar profile, both horses having proved able to win at a high level over just two miles before heading to Aintree.
Former Irish National winner Burrows Saint, trained by Willie Mullins and the Rachael Blackmore-ridden Minella Times are others to consider with Bristol De Mai heading a maximum field of 40.
Blackmore enjoyed a dream Cheltenham Festival and aims to top an incredible year on Henry de Bromhead’s Minella Times. The Gold Cup-winning stable is also responsible for Chris’s Dream and Balko Des Flos.
Welsh National winner Secret Reprieve is only second reserve and set to miss out as a result, with trainer Evan Williams saying: ‘We took a punt about getting in the National and it’s not going to work out. That’s the way it is.’