Brian Hughes blog 14/04/2023 – Grand National Saturday, Aintree
The National is a fantastic spectacle, but not an easy one to find the winner of. Absolutely anything can happen.
It’s a brilliant race and I’m particularly interested to see how Corach Rambler, who I schooled last week, and Minella Trump, who’s been a great horse for Donald [McCain], get on.
On ratings, Corach Rambler looks very well-in. He jumps well, stays well and will be doing all of his best work at the finish when some of the field will be tiring. Some people might not be too keen on siding with a hold-up horse in the National given all the drama that can unfold in front of you, but I think he’d be a great ride, and if you look back at past Nationals, I’m sure you’d find more winners coming from off the pace than those that make the running.
As for Minella Trump, he’s won a lot of decent races and is ultra-consistent. Donald and the Leslie family have had this mapped out for a while and are very excited about his chances, so fingers crossed he runs a big race.
I also like the chances of Any Second Now, who despite carrying top-weight, has been there and got the t-shirt, and that counts for a lot. He might have a bit too much on his plate this year to win it, but I like horses that are coming back with a bit of experience over these fences.
That said, I quite like Our Power, who’s lining up at Aintree for the first time. He’s unbeaten this season and sneaks into this near the foot of the weights. He could still be improving over fences and would be dangerous if seeing out the extra trip.
Brian Hughes’s Grand National 1-2-3:
- CORACH RAMBLER
- ANY SECOND NOW
- OUR POWER
Elsewhere on Saturday, I’ve got Fusain (1:45pm) and Dallas Des Pictons (2:25pm). I don’t know a great deal about either of them, and both look to face stiff tasks.
Fusain is an improving horse bidding for a hat-trick, but he’ll obviously need to take an even bigger step forward to get competitive Grade 1 company. You can’t write him off completely, though, as he was a 35 length winner last time out, and if he puts in a career-best then he can outrun his odds.
As for Dallas Des Pictons, he looks fairly treated on the best of his form when trained by Gordon Elliott. He’s not been racing to that mark since switching to Dianne Sayer this season but can hopefully bounce back and get competitive again.
My best chance of the day, and one of the horses I’ve been looking forward to all week, is Dino Bellagio (6:20pm). He’s Donald’s best bumper horse for sure and I was very impressed with him the last day at Doncaster.
It takes a lot to win a bumper under a penalty, and he did that in no uncertain terms. He’s been continuing to work well at home and this race has been the target for a long time.
