Familiar names lead Irish challenge

Few sporting occasions have the ability to be loved all over the world while still being cherished closest to home like the Grand National.

The 40-horse, 4 miles 3 ½ furlong National Hunt extravaganza is alone in being able to wake a nation one side of the globe and bring it to a halt on the other.

However, for all the obvious charm of the most famous race in the world one of its less heralded attributes is the endearing fact that it is arguably the only race in the calendar where you can have a bet and not have to lie about it to your loved ones.

And here at Ladbrokes we have been looking forward to the big day ever since we packed up and left Aintree after last year’s incredible three days.

Past success is our present concern

Any casual student of the contest’s roll of honour will know how much the race means to Irish fans as well - some of our traders are still recovering from the most successful raids.

After Bobbyjo broke the silence of quarter of a century without an Irish winner in 1999, giving father and son Tommy and Paul Carberry a memorable victory we were hoping for some respite.

But just 12 months later an even more popular family combination struck our sacks to near-breaking point as Papillon, backed from 33-1 to joint-favourite on the day, held on for Ted and Ruby Walsh to signal cheers that could be heard all the way across the Irish Sea.

Familiar names lead Irish challenge

This year it looks like we’ll have to be defending ourselves against some equally imposing double acts, even if they aren’t strictly family.

Willie Mullins and Paul Townend look set to team-up on Prince De Beauchene and racing fans will not be shocked to see the champion trainer’s horse shortest of all from the domestic challengers.

Recently crowned leading trainer at the Cheltenham Festival for the second year running, Mullins is unsurprisingly no stranger to success in this race either having saddled favourite Hedgehunter to win in 2005 – another result some of us here would prefer to forget.

Walsh Snr is set to try and bring the prize back once more this year with Colbert Station and we are bracing ourselves for another plunge with the champ on board, AP McCoy.

Until he retires his whip any horse partnered by the 39-year-old freak will be backed to the hilt and when they all see who is training the 10-year-old we might have to take cover.

We’ll also be keeping a close eye on Peter Maher’s Big Shu who has come in for some sustained support in recent days. Last year’s Cross Country Chase winner ran with enormous credit when finishing third in the same race at this year’s Festival but his handler has made no secret of the fact that Aintree has always been the target for his stable star.

Of the other raiders we’ll be trying to keep the right side of, Thomas Gibney’s Lion de Bearnai and the Henry de Bromhead’s Buckers Bridge warrant respect and of course we’ll be treating anything associated to one of the game’s heroes, JP McManus with understandable caution.

Jumping’s biggest benefactor looks to be three-handed in the contest with Martin Brassil’s Double Seven and two from partner-in-success Jonjo O’Neill’s yard, the talented Alfie Sherrin and Lost Glory both set to take their chance

While we will be treading carefully with JP, we certainly won’t be holding back on our promotions for the day. We have already gone No Runner No Bet on the race as history tells us even the best laid plans can unravel up until the tape finally goes up but we have lots more in store for our customers as we get closer to quarter past four on Saturday.

And despite the majority of eyes and pens trained on Saturday we haven’t forgotten all the incredible action to enjoy on the first two days of the meeting. As a result, if anyone backs a winner at odds of 3/1 or greater on any C4 race on their mobile we will award them a free bet to the same stake along with their winnings.

In the meantime, we’re going to be studying right up to the last minute to ensure we’re not caught out again.

After all, if Ireland is celebrating you can guarantee we won’t be.

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