Grand National tips: Rory Delargy Aintree shortlist

Corach Rambler (Lucinda Russell)

Click here to back Corach Rambler at 6/1 with Sky Bet

It used to be fairly easy to produce a shortlist that included the Grand National winner, or am I imagining that? Certainly in the 1980s the field could be split into four groups: A) Horses who used to be good but weren’t any more, B) Horses who were still good, of which around half had a chance of staying C) Horses who weren’t good enough but stayed forever, and D) Horses with form figures F3F0P2UFF3, usually ridden by Ray Goldstein, because nobody else was daft enough.

These days, like contestants in Father Ted’s Lovely Girl competition, all the runners bear up well to paddock inspection, and while a few might be a year past their best, it isn’t nearly as easy to throw a load of the names in the discard bin. I’m therefore taking an unusual route in narrowing the field according to those who look best weighted on recent form, heavily weighted towards those for whom the Grand National has been a primary ambition.

Corach Rambler must be top of the list, as his second Ultima win at Cheltenham last month was an excellent piece of form for which he is unpunished. That race is not always a great guide to Aintree (although it didn’t stop Noble Yeats last year), but my view on that is it can be punishing and there is not much of a gap between the two meetings for recovery. This year is different with almost five weeks between Corach Rambler’s Ultima run and the National itself.

This horse is remarkably well treated given three of his last four runs have seen him win twice at the Cheltenham Festival and finish in the places for the Coral Gold Cup, and yet his handicap mark has risen by just 6lb since the first of those wins. He travels, jumps and for a horse who looks like he will stay long distances, can actually quicken. A rare combination, and his tendency to idle in front means we still don’t know quite how good he could be.

Mr Incredible (Willie Mullins)

Click here to back Mr Incredible at 12/1 with Sky Bet

If Corach Rambler can look ungainly in a finish, he’s an angel compared to Mr Incredible, who has a Timeform squiggle to his name having refused to race in the Grade Neville Hotels Novice Chase at Leopardstown last season. He has got back on track since joining Willie Mullins, and impressed with how well he’s travelled in both the Classic Chase at Warwick and the Kim Muir at Cheltenham this year.

I’m a big fan of the Angel’s Dawn, and runner-up Stumptown is also a very well handicapped horse, so seeing Mr Incredible bearing down on that pair at the last fence of the Kim Muir didn’t escape my notice. He travelled really well held up there, and looked like taking a big hand, but didn’t really apply himself after the last fence, tending to hang fire as he hung right towards the paddock exit. He’s a risky one in terms of temperament, but he will be happier than most behind a typically strong pace, and should be on the bridle longer than most. Perhaps the unique test will amuse him enough to stick his neck out, and he still looks a must for exotics.

Vanillier (Gavin Cromwell)

Click here to back Vanillier at 18/1 with Sky Bet

Vanillier gets the third vote after I wrestled with the likes of Le Milos, Lifetime Ambition and Delta Work, and the deciding factor was weight. Although the high-weights did quite well last year, I think the previous running, when all six horses with 11 stone or more failed to finish, is more the norm these days, and Vanillier is well weighted for a Grade 1 Cheltenham Festival winner who has admittedly taken time to get accustomed to fences.

I think that Gavin Cromwell has prepared the quirky Vanillier well for this, running him at trips short of his best this season – presumably to sharpen up his jumping – and he was a massive eyecatcher in the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse last time when conceding weight to all of his rivals, but still finishing best to be beaten just half a length by Kemboy. The worry is that he jumping will again catch him out in a big field, but if he could jump with fluency he’d be a Grade 1 chaser, and although no spectacular at Fairyhouse, he avoided errors and a repeat would give him a big chance.

Also in the series...

• My National shortlist - Simon Holt
• My National shortlist - Oli Bell
• My National shortlist - Fran Berry
• My National shortlist - David Massey

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