Sunday, April 08, 2012

Irish Grand National 2012

A very quick look at the Irish National...

A number of  runners appeared at Cheltenham last month, including:

Alfie Sherrin (pipped Fruity O'Rooney to take the JLT Speciality handicap chase) with Magnanimity sixth beaten just under 20 lengths but re-opposing here eight pounds better off;

Catch Me second behind Cape Tribulation in the Pertemps Final (handicap hurdle) with Prince Erik tenth - Prince Erik twelfth in this race last year;

Four Commanders third behind Teaforthree in the four mile amateur riders' race with Allee Garde coming to grief at the twelfth - Ruby Walsh rides Allee Garde;

Start Me Up fifth behind Sunnyhillboy in the Kim Muir;

Glam Gerry third behind Salut Flo in the Byrne Group Plate.

Amongst those returning for another stab are Western Charmer (second last year but looking a little out of sorts this time), The Last Derby (sixth), Deal Done (ninth) and Saddlers Storm (pulled up). Groody Hill appears to have been laid out for the race (beat Cross Appeal into third on penultimate start) and has the assistance of McCoy in the saddle while two worth a second look at a price are Some Target and Lion Na Bearnai.

Over the years I have been singularly unsuccessful in this race; on balance I prefer to go for something that comes to this relatively fresh rather than one that may have had a hard race at the Festival less than four weeks ago. Younger animals have tended to fare better than their older counterparts in recent years so Willie Mullins' Some Target (Paul Townend doing the steering) is put up as nothing more than a tentative each-way suggestion (25/1 William Hill / Coral).

1 comment:

GeeDee said...

Of the two described as 'worth a second look at a price' selection Some Target (16/1) was pulled up while Lion Na Bearnai won at 33/1...

Only nine of the 29 starters completed.