So I won’t be betting on the National this year, to be honest I had the briefest run of luck on that damned race ever. Currently the line up’s huge, 130 which’ll end up being the 40 come April.
Bindaree’s in again this year, the horse I never bet on unless it loses, and Bindaree has a history for me of being right up front until the last possibly moment, at which point I tear up my slips! Last year Amberleigh House (nice reputation that horse has), Clan Royal and Lord Atterbury came home and they’re all up for it this year, the only one I might’ve been tempted to waste my money on is Lord Atterbury it has to be said. But I’m superstitious about betting on previous winners. Ad Hoc is another of those horse that lose if I bet on them and is in again from Nicholls, if I had to bet on a Nicholls horse then it’d be Ad Hoc I think.
I don’t really like any of the French horses this year (that includes Clan Royal) but then with a National each way bet I don’t think you can go wrong with Irish. Might be tempted by Shamawan or Keen Leader since they have Jonjo O’Neill as trainer and he’s done well for me in the past (same trainer as Clan Royal). Though he’s doing pretty crapily at the moment. If I hear Tony Mccoy is riding one of his horses then I’d bet on that one, but then thats because he won me a nice ammount when he remounted Blowing Wind ages ago.
I do bet on trainers really and that leads me to look at Twiston-Davies horses (Bindaree’s trainer) Baron Windrush is doing damn well at the moment but I still think I rather prefer Whereareyounow though I suspect he won’t be in the final National line up as his season is not going so well.
And for my name bet it’d be a toss up between World Wide Web (another of O’Neills) and Toulous-Lautrec (T.R.George)
Ah well, it’ll all change come April. And if any of my readers want to take my advice then do bear in mind I haven’t bet on an outright winner of the National in five years and my each way bets have been crap for the past two. I’m still forty quid up over all on the bookies though…