Antepost Angle: Grand National

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1pt The Young Master to win the 2017 Randox Health Grand National

1pt Rogue Angel to win the 2017 Randox Health Grand National

THE YOUNG MASTER's Aintree reconnaissance mission didn't exactly go to plan but there's a strong sense that only one race really matters for him this season and at 33/1 it's worth taking a punt that connections can pull off that plan.

Next to useless on the Flat earlier in his career despite being out of a juvenile sprint winner (similarities with Red Rum sadly end there), here is a horse who is now quite used to making headlines, having been disqualified retrospectively from the 2014 Badger Ales Trophy after not technically being entitled to run in a race he 'won' by seven lengths from Court By Surprise.

Six weeks later there was no stopping him from legitimately landing a big Listed handicap at Ascot, after which the RSA Chase proved a step too far at the end of a long, hard novice campaign.

The springtime yielded far more joy last year, however, as a then seven-year-old put a weak effort in the Cleeve Hurdle behind him to finish a running-on third behind Un Temps Pour Tout and Holywell in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Having been bought into by Robert Waley-Cohen at the start of that campaign, there was an expectation that the National would have to be on the radar following Cheltenham but the decision was taken to wait another year and instead head for Sandown's Bet365 Gold Cup, which he won by a short-head from Just A Par.

It's that game, battling performance up the Sandown hill, despite racing a little keenly in the early stages, that confirmed The Young Master as a perfect candidate for the greatest steeplechase and the fact he only went up 2lb to a mark of 150 was merely a small bonus.

In terms of National ratings, that mark sees him fall very much in the sweet spot of being absolutely guaranteed a run without being set to carry too much - or in big-race jockey Sam Waley-Cohen's very particular case - too little weight.

The final touches to his preparations for Aintree are now likely to come at Cheltenham. He goes into the Festival after another pretty modest effort in the Cleeve this time around and presumably it'll be a return tilt at the Ultima, in which you'd obviously like to see more of his old zest.

That wasn't evident when a faller in the Becher Chase at the start of the season. He jumped the first half-dozen fences with aplomb but soon found himself struggling in the rear and he was a spent force by the time he came down two from the finish.

The experience won't be lost on the horse and you'd be confident his rider will be able to extract a better performance come the big day.

No rider has a better record around the famous Aintree course than Waley-Cohen, whose six wins and four seconds over the big fences makes him very much a man you want pitching for you.Long Run provided the amateur jockey with days to remember in the Gold Cup and King George but the National remains on his to-do list, having filled the runner-up spot six years ago on Oscar Time, and a fully-fit The Young Master could realistically be the most suitable horse he's ever partnered in the race.

Another Becher also-ran who looks to have been trained for Aintree is ROGUE ANGEL, in the care of last year's winning trainer Mouse Morris.

Twelve months ago Rule The World was completing a remarkable double for Morris after Rogue Angel had made most of the running to win the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse last March and though it's been a largely patchy time for the son of Presenting since then, there have been glimmers of promise.

His effort in the Becher doesn't read well at all on the face of it but another look at the replay shows he gave Ger Fox a decent spin before tiring in the second half of the race and again he wasn't disgraced when ninth of 28 behind Noble Endeavor in the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.

However, his most pleasing display this term came last time out when fifth to Champagne West under Rachael Blackmore in the Thyestes at Gowran Park.

Rule The World filled exactly the same place in the same race on his penultimate start before his National glory last year so Morris will have been delighted with that run and is likely to be plotting a final prep for the nine-year-old, who could end up sneaking in near the foot of the weights at Aintree.

He's always had a touch of class, having finished seventh in the four-miler at Cheltenham in 2014, and while it's too simplistic to suggest he has a similar profile to last year's winner, there is every chance his trainer has been working back from April 8 with Rogue Angel since he passed the post in the Irish version last spring.

He's number 60 in the weights, but there are plenty above him in the handicap are already being talked of as doubtful starters and I'd suggest there's every chance that he'll creep into the final line-up of 40 by the time the race has thinned out a little in April.

The top of the National betting is dominated by Don Poli and The Last Samuri, who will have to better Many Clouds' winning performance off a mark 160 if they are to emerge victorious, while Empire Of Dirt doesn't look an obvious contender for a four and a half-mile test.

One For Arthur, another from the Becher, is tempting following his destructive display in the Classic Chase at Warwick when last seen, while Ucello Conti has looked an Aintree project ever since he joined the Elliott team and he finished ahead of Rogue Angel when second in the Thyestes.

However, a third selection is passed over at this stage with two strong stayers - and likely starters - already on side.

First posted at 0030 GMT on 15/02/17