It’s not long till many in Warrington make their annual trip up the M57 for Grand National weekend, and Cheltenham Trials Day may have given us some early clues to the outcome, with bookies adjusting their betting on the Grand National following the weekend’s racing.
Noble Yeats, last year’s National winner, was one of those in action, and is a name that racing fans will be hearing plenty more about, as he bids to follow up that famous win with a tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, before returning to Aintree again.
He came home third in last Saturday’s Cotswold Chase, impressing as he stayed on gamely and forcing wary bookmakers to cut his Gold Cup odds to 7/1 second favourite.
Ahoy Senor was the big mover in the Grand National betting though, after seeing off Noble Yeats and the well-fancied Protektorat amongst others.
Doubts remain over whether he’ll even have a go at the Aintree marathon, but Paddy Power and Betfair were quick to react as they slashed his odds from 50/1 to just 16/1.
Any Second Now hoping to catch the eye
The next race to keep a close eye on is the Irish Gold Cup, where Galopin des Champs will look to show why he is favourite for the English equivalent at Cheltenham in March.
In action in the same race will be a number of Grand National contenders, most notably The Big Dog, Stattler, and Any Second Now who already boasts second and third placed finishes in the Aintree showpiece.
Any Second is currently seen as the most likely challenger to Noble Yeats, as 20/1 second favourite for the Grand National, but expect those odds to disappear if he impresses at Leopardstown beforehand.
