Saturday’s Horse Racing Tips: Vanillier looks a sweet bet in this year’s Grand National

Can Corach Rambler become just the seventh horse in history to win back-to-back Grand Nationals? That is the question on everyone’s lips as the 176th running of Aintree’ famous race looms large on the horizon.

Lucinda Russell’s stablestar will look to join The Duke (1836/37), Abd-El-Kader (1850/51), The Colonel (1869/70), Reynoldstown (1935/36), Red Rum (1973/74) and Tiger Roll (2018/19) in an exclusive group of consecutive winners, and bookmakers make him favourite to do so after a career-best performance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last month.

 There is no doubt that he’s the horse to beat. Corach Rambler has recently proved himself capable of competing at the top level, he stays the distance well and jumps cleanly. Despite being well-in at the weights compared to his future rating, his biggest challenge appears to be a 13lb higher mark than 12 months ago and for that reason I’m willing to look elsewhere at the prices. 

Since 2016, Russell is the only English trainer to win the National with the five other renewals going to Ireland. And it might be the Emerald Isle that is celebrating once again as they have a number of strong chances. Many punters will look for JP McManus’ green and gold silks, which will be worn on Limerick Lace, Meetingofthewaters and I Am Maximus, but they all have big questions to answer.

Course form is crucial in the National as this test is unique and for that reason it would be foolish to ignore Vanillier. Perhaps he is the best of the Irish? Gavin Cromwell’s grey made his debut in the race last year and ran phenomenally well to take second behind the aforementioned Corach Rambler, especially as he was held up out the back in a race that tends to go the way of a prominent racer.

Vanillier made a couple of small mistakes on the way round but safely negotiated his way from start to finish and was never closer than in the final stride. He was the only horse to make significant headway in the home straight, particularly once they passed the elbow, and that proven stamina is a huge tick in the box when the ground gets testing like this year.

He has been cleverly campaigned this season with three of his four starts coming over completely inadequate trips. His recent second in the Bobbyjo Chase was a nice warm-up and Gavin Cromwell will have him fully tuned up for this target.

The other horse I believe is worth a second look is Panda Boy, although I’m concerned about the ground for him - trainer Martin Brassil has always said this horse would prefer a faster surface despite posting some fair performances in bogs. Nevertheless, he has been at the top of my shortlist for the National for a couple of months now and therefore I don’t want to jump ship.

His proven form in big-field handicaps, pinpoint jumping and light weight are the positives. Brassil won this race with Numbersixvalverde back in 2006, so knows what a Grand National winner looks like, and Panda Boy certainly has the talent to go close if he handles conditions.

It would be folly to completely overlook Aintree’s undercard given the number of competitive and enticing contests on offer, so I have two more bets lined up. The first is West Balboa, who will try to retain her crown in the opening 3m½f handicap hurdle (1.20) for trainer Dan Skelton.

This mare justified strong market support (sent off 9/2 favourite) when cutting through a maximum-sized field to win decisively by five lengths last year. She proved her quality on her seasonal reappearance when stuffing subsequent winner Brewin’Upastorm by 12 lengths before being sent off favourite in the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle. 

That didn’t work out for her - she ended up finishing last - and Skelton seemed to put top-level contests on the back-burner immediately after with a view of getting her back for this race. 

Two recent outings, including an eyecatching sixth at Kempton, have led to the handicapper dropping her 2lb in the weights and she appears fairly treated to rack up another success for her in-form connections.

That leaves my best bet of the entire meeting, which is Mister Meggit in the closing Grade 2 bumper (5.35 Aintree). I loved this horse’s debut at Carlisle in early November. He travelled extremely well throughout that contest before fairly sprinting clear under limited riding to beat a subsequent winner. 

Immediately after that race we filmed the SBK Jumps Preview Podcast, where we listed horses to follow in each division this year, and I put up Mister Meggit as my ‘Dark Horse’ to follow. Unfortunately he’s only run once since, a race in which he destroyed his opposition while on the bridle, but this is hopefully the time to cash in.

No matter how he performs, I’m sure he has a bright future over hurdles and fences. But this doesn’t look the best of Grade 2 bumpers in terms of quality or depth and I would be disappointed if he didn’t justify favoritism under Jonjo O’Neill jnr.

Saturday’s Horse Racing Tips

West Balboa (1.20 Aintree) @ 5/1
Vanillier (4.00 Aintree) @ 11/1
Panda Boy (4.00 Aintree) @ 12/1
Mister Meggit (5.35 Aintree) @ 9/4