With just 10 days to go until the Grand National 2023 at Aintree, we check in on where the bets have been going since the start of the Jump season.
Corach Rambler
Lucinda Russell’s CORACH RAMBLER (6/1 favourite) had already attracted plenty of punters attention for the biggest race in the National Hunt season on the oddschecker grid prior to his phenomenal performance in winning the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival for the second consecutive year.
Bidding for a repeat of last year’s win, Russell’s inmate was ridden in typically confident fashion by his regular pilot Derek Fox and having taken the brave man’s route around the inside for the entire journey, they came through strongly at the business end to pull off a famous double.
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The nine-year-old will bid to give Russell and husband/former jockey Peter Scudamore another chance of landing a second Grand National success. There is plenty of resemblance between himself and One For Arthur, especially their profiles, and the latter won the big one at Aintree in 2017 for connections when partnered by Fox.
His only previous outing over a trip further than three-miles-one-furlong saw him finish fourth in the Classic Chase at Warwick over three-miles-five-furlongs, where he stayed on well to finish fourth, so the whole surroundings in this stiffer test could suit.
Corach Rambler has been backed in more than 8% of the Grand National betslips through oddschecker since the start of the Jump season in October.
Delta Work
The Gordon Elliott-trained 10-year-old DELTA WORK will travel back to Aintree for another tilt at the Grand National next month having won the Cross Country race at the Cheltenham Festival for the second year in a row, after he beat stablemate Galvin in what was another thrilling finish to the unique contest.
Leading at the second last, Galvin was the only danger and while his stablemate threw down a challenge as the pair battled down the home straight, Delta Work found plenty in reserve inside the final 100 yards to draw clear and succeed.
He finished a fine third in the Grand National last year behind Noble Yeats and Any Second Now on ground that was plenty quick enough and is sure to have learnt a lot from that experience. Horses who run well in the National first time round tend to come back and do well again and he could easily be another horse to do just this for a stable that has a great record in the race.
He is a best price 10/1 to go two places better this year and on the back of his latest performance, there’s reason to believe he can do so granted a clear round. He is well weighted this time plus he is better off at the weights with the front pair from last year, hence why he is so popular for punters.
As Tiger Roll has proved in recent times, the Cross Country race at the Festival isn’t a bad trial for the National, which might explain Delta Work's popularity with oddschecker punters. 6.0% of the bets on the Grand National winner market since the start of the season have gone his way.
Noble Yeats
Other than Rough Quest back in 1996, who finished runner-up to Imperial Call, the Gold Cup isn’t usually a reliable guide to finding the Grand National winner, but in the case of NOBLE YEATS (best price 8/1) he might be one who could buck the trend.
A surprise winner of the Aintree showpiece last year, Emmet Mullins’ gelding has actually improved his status since and his fourth in the blue riband at Cheltenham has only reaffirmed his rising stock.
12 months ago he provided jockey Sam Waley-Cohen with a fairytale send-off, who concluded his riding career with success in the Grand National. His mount was sent off 50/1 SP as a big outsider, but he jumped and travelled beautifully and won comfortably by more than two lengths.
He has been persistently popular this season and rightfully takes his place in the top three, with 5.2% backing from the oddschecker community.
Mr Incredible
Willie Mullins' leading candidate MR INCREDIBLE ran a good race to finish second in the Classic Chase at Warwick on his first go over a marathon distance and backed that up with a gusty third off top-weight in the Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival - a cracking effort for a horse firmly been targeted at the Grand National next weekend.
As highlighted by Andy Holding, on both of these starts Mullins’ inmate has been noted doing all his best work at the finish and he looks just the type who will relish every yard of the 4m2f journey.
If there is a slight negative with the son of Westerner, it’s his temperament, but as he didn’t show any sort of recalcitrance at Cheltenham both at the start or during the race (has refused in the past), hopes are high that he will cope with all the pre-race razzamatazz next Saturday.
Paul Byrne, the owner of Noble Yeats before selling to Robert Waley-Cohen prior to Aintree, is Mr Incredible’s owner and he could have a serious contender himself for the world’s most famous steeplechase on his hands. He is 14/1 and has been backed by 4.3% of the punters through oddschecker.
Le Milos
Dan Skelton could have a couple of big players this year, including LE MILOS (20/1), who landed the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury earlier in the season and has been popular for the Grand National ever since, even if he did suffer a shock reversal at such odds when second in the Premier Chase at Kelso.
The Coral Gold Cup winner may have lost his unbeaten record for team Skelton but he was ridden far too aggressively when caught late on having traded short in-running and we can expect a more conservative ride in the Grand National next Saturday. He is a beautiful jumper, with a high cruising speed, and that will serve him well plus he has improvement to come.
The eight-year-old will be entering unknown territory over the distance but has as much going for him as any other British-trained Grand National contender and remains very popular with punters.
His trainer has yet to land the Grand National but perhaps this is the horse to implement a winning performance with his limit not yet reached. Le Milos rounds off our top five with a 4.1% share of the bets at the time of writing.
