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| Ballabriggs & Jason Maguire winning last year's Grand National |
First won in 1839 by a horse called Lottery, many people view the race as just that, but increasingly the race is starting to attract better and better horses and it is the best handicapped horses that generally come out on top.
This is why the weights announcement has become such a huge news story, and this year is no exception with the internet buzzing for much of the day about this year’s weights.
Here is the full list of entries along with their age and allotted weight for the world’s most famous horse race, as announced earlier today.
SYNCHRONISED 9-11st-10lb
BALLABRIGGS 11-11-09
MIDNIGHT CHASE 10-11-08
WEIRD AL 9-11-08
BURTON PORT 8-11-07
QUEL ESPRIT 8-11-07
CALGARY BAY 9-11-06
NEPTUNE COLLONGES 11-11-06
ALFA BEAT 8-11-05
PLANET OF SOUND 10-11-05
BLAZING TEMPO 8-11-04
ROBERTO GOLDBACK 10-11-04
BLACK APALACHI 13-11-03
DEEP PURPLE 11-11-03
JUNIOR 9-11-02
QUANTITATIVEEASING 7-11-02
SCOTSIRISH 11-11-02
TARTAK 9-11-02
APT APPROACH 9-11-01
LITTLE JOSH 10-11-01
PSYCHO (IRE) 11-11-00
CHICAGO GREY 9-10-13
TATENEN 8-10-13
ACCORDING TO PETE 11-10-12
SEABASS 9-10-12
SHAKALAKABOOMBOOM 8-10-12
WEST END ROCKER 10-10-12
HECTOR'S CHOICE 8-10-11
MASSINI'S MAGUIRE 11-10-11
ON HIS OWN 8-10-11
ALWAYS RIGHT 10-10-10
CAPPA BLEU 10-10-10
CRESCENT ISLAND 9-10-09
RARE BOB 10-10-09
MON MOME 12-10-08
ORGANISEDCONFUSION 7-10-08
THE MIDNIGHT CLUB 11-10-08
TREACLE 11-10-08
ARBOR SUPREME 10-10-07
COOLDINE 10-10-07
HOLD ON JULIO 9-10-07
PEARLYSTEPS 9-10-06
PRINCE DE BEAUCHENE 9-10-06
NICHE MARKET 11-10-05
ROULEZ COOL 9-10-05
STEWARTS HOUSE 10-10-05
SUNNYHILLBOY 9-10-05
UNCLE JUNIOR 11-10-05
FAIR ALONG 10-10-04
KILLYGLEN 10-10-04
QUISCOVER FONTAINE 8-10-04
THARAWAAT 7-10-04
ALWAYS WAINING 11-10-03
BECAUSEICOULDNTSEE 9-10-03
LE BEAU BAI 9-10-03
STATE OF PLAY 12-10-03
SWING BILL 11-10-03
POSTMASTER 10-10-02
SHAKERVILZ 9-10-02
THE PACKAGE 9-10-02
WYMOTT 8-10-02
BACKSTAGE 10-10-01
GILES CROSS 10-10-01
HELLO BUD 14-10-00
IN COMPLIANCE 12-10-00
MIDNIGHT HAZE 10-10-00
NORTHERN ALLIANCE 11-10-00
VIC VENTURI 12-10-00
VIKING BLOND 7-10-00
QHILIMAR 8-9-13
SOME TARGET 8-9-10
NEPTUNE EQUESTER 9-9-09
ANY CURRENCY 9-9-08
OUR ISLAND 7-9-07
SCHINDLER'S GOLD (IRE) 10-9-07
ABBEYBRANEY 11-9-05
SADDLERS STORM 10-9-05
SMOKING ACES 8-9-05
KING FONTAINE 9-9-04
ANOTHER PALM 7-9-03
BALLYVESEY 7-9-02
MINELLA THEATRE 9-9-00
Realistically, I don’t think there are too many shocks in there and with only 1lb between Synchronised and Ballabriggs (a definite runner barring a disaster in the build-up) there should only be a change of a pound at worst come race day.
On that front, Ballabriggs is perhaps a little harshly treated given that in a normal handicap Synchronised would be forced to give him much more than a pound. However such is handicapper Phil Smith’s power to dish out weight as he sees fit for this race that is the pull last year’s winner will have for the National.
The major players seem happy with the weights, Donald McCain and David Pipe, trainers of Ballabriggs and Junior respectively have commented that the weights given to their charges was about what they expected whilst others, notably Paul Nicholls on Niche Market, have expressed joy at the weight that will burden their horses at Aintree in April.
One trainer who was far from happy with the weight given to one of his horses however was Dessie Hughes who was astonished Black Apalachi, aged thirteen now, was given so much weight given his lengthy absence since running second in 2010.
It’s probably still too early for me to start seriously analysing who is going to win this year’s race as so much can change between now and then.
Several horses still need to qualify for the race by placing in a race of the necessary distance and there are obviously a number of very good horses who you would think would probably have other targets, i.e. the Gold Cup.
That said, I’ve had a few fancies for the National for a while now and the weights announcement today hasn’t really changed my mindset too much. I still think Junior will run a huge race providing he takes to the fences, I really like Cappa Bleu for at least a place this year and now carrying a very favourable weight that looks even more likely and State of Play is obviously a massive each way shout too having placed for the last three years and unbelievably is still only 12.
I’ll crystallise my thoughts on the race as the time gets nearer as with the weights now out there and unable to be changed we’ll start to actually see a lot of these horses returning to the track hopefully.
Sooner than you may think as well by all accounts with Junior and Burton Port both scheduled for runs at Newbury on Friday.
In addition to the official weights being announced today, the mighty Timeform have also released their weight-adjusted official ratings for the horses entered. Below are their top-rated:
Weird Al 184
Prince de Beauchene 179
Niche Market 178
Burton Port 177
Synchronised 177
Hold On Julio 176p
Giles Cross 176
Midnight Haze 176
Neptune Collonges 176
Treacle 176
Viking Blond 176
Quel Esprit 175+
Cappa Bleu 175+
Chicago Grey 175
Killyglen 175
Le Beau Bai 175
Midnight Chase 175
Planet of Sound 175
Quiscover Fontaine 175
Swing Bill 175
What’s interesting there is that a lot of the big guns don’t even figure, so in that sense this year’s Grand National is looking even more wide open than ever.
I love this time of year and the build-up to the race, and you can bet there will be several more twists before April and the usual plethora of Grand National stories going in to the race and I for one can’t wait!
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