Robbie Lee looks ahead to a cracking William Hill Half A Mill Grand National Trial at Haydock on Saturday and picks out a horse to follow in light of the recent trends.
Haydock hosts the William Hill Grand National Trial card, a day of racing and Valentine's not to be missed by the horse racing lover. The card boasts two Grade Two contests - the ZYN Rendlesham Hurdle (14:05) and the Albert Bartlett Prestige Novices’ Hurdle (14:40).
However, the main event of the day is the William Hill Half A Mill Grand National Trial at 15:15, a £100,000 contest over a gruelling three and a half miles (subject to an 8am inspection due to the prospect of frost).
This is the final race in William Hill’s initiative which sees any horse able to win this contest and follow up in the Randox Grand National on April 11 awarded a £500,000 bonus by the sponsor.
A field of 11 is set to take go to post at the Merseyside track and we have a competitive bunch of high-calibre staying chasers looking to land a nice pot before potentially taking a swing at the big one.
Two of the current market leaders are Myretown, for Lucinda Russell & Michael Scudamore, and Deafening Silence from the Dan Skelton stable.
Myretown was a fantastic winner of the Ultima at last year's Cheltenham Festival but has had some jumping issues this year, falling in the Coral Gold Cup and potentially costing him the race in the Peter Marsh at this track just under a month ago.
Deafening Silence was a very good third when beaten by the classy Haiti Couleurs in the Welsh Grand National but running a big race to be beaten less than five lengths.
Key stats to note:
- Only one market leader has justified favouritism to win in the last 12 renewals;
- Seven of the last 12 winners have carried 11 stone or more to win the race;
- Seven of the last 12 winners have been aged nine or older.
Horse to follow in the race:
GRAND GESTE (Joel Parkinson & Sue Smith, Danny McMenamin)
GRAND GESTE looks like another progressive horse for a yard who is having an exceptional season and they look to have another good opportunity to land a nice pot in a big race. This horse started his season in November when second behind The Jukebox Kid at Carlisle before finding one too good once again at Newcastle. However, on his third run of the season, the gelding was a fine winner of the Betfair Tommy Whittle Chase at Haydock over an extended three miles and one furlong. The grey made all that day and looked a class above when winning by six and a half lengths.
A step up in Grade saw him compete in Doncaster’s Great Yorkshire Chase in which he never travelled in early stages and was pulled-up just before the 12th fence. He was a short 5/2 favourite that day and the strong early pace meant McMenamin couldn’t dictate the race like we saw on his previous outing. If he can bounce back and continue to progress like we have seen this season, he could be a big player for the Parkinson & Smith team and he looks very nice each-way value at around 9/1.
Are we going to see a National contender?
In the Haydock race, there are four horses who are also entered in the Randox Grand National: Deafening Silence, Monbeg Genius, Myretown and Top Of The Bill. Should one of these win, they will be looking to land a pretty pot in the Aintree race. The shortest-price of the four runners is currently Myretown at around 40/1 for the Russell & Scudamore team. He needs to get his campaign back on track but could be the one with realistic Aintree claims if doing so and going up the ratings before next week's publication of the National weights.
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