Andrew Asquith has had winners at 16/1, 10/1 and 6/1 in his ante-post column in recent weeks and has picked out two in the Grand National at Aintree.
Weekend View: Saturday April 5
1pt e.w. Perceval Legallois in the 4.00 Aintree at 14/1 (1/5 1,2,3,4,5 - William Hill, 888sport, Ladbrokes, Coral)
1pt e.w. Minella Indo in the 4.00 Aintree at 40/1 (1/5 1,2,3,4,5 - William Hill, 888sport)
The Randox Grand National is the biggest betting race in the horse racing calendar so it seems sensible to throw a couple of darts at it. Intense Raffles has been my long-term fancy for the race, but he’s found his way to the head of the betting, no surprise given his profile, bidding to emulate I Am Maximus who won the Irish version the previous season.
He looks well treated from a mark of 151, but so does PERCEVAL LEGALLOIS who will race from 2lb higher. Gavin Cromwell has an incredibly strong hand in this year’s National with his other intended runners Stumptown and Vanillier, who finished first and third in the Cross Country at the Cheltenham Festival – the latter very much catching the eye having more or less stopped to a halt when his jockey nearly took the wrong course early in the race – and will both race from the same mark.
However, Perceval Legallois will arrive fresher than that pair and he has looked better than ever this season. He’s a horse who has bundles of ability and he finally put it all together when winning an ultra-competitive, 27-runner handicap at Leopardstown over the Christmas period.
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He was given a confident ride on that occasion, still having plenty to do jumping three from home, but making up plenty of ground from there, looking a big threat coming down to the last when still in fourth position and advertising that stamina is his forte when streaking clear in the last 100 yards.
Nick Rockett who finished fourth on that occasion, has franked the form since by beating Intense Raffles, and Perceval Legallois will meet that rival on even better terms on Saturday.
He has since taken advantage of a lower hurdles mark in another competitive, big-field handicap in his preparation for the National, again impressing with how he moved through that race under another patient ride, arriving on the scene with plenty of running left at the last and not at all given a hard time to assert on the run-in.
Perceval Legallois arrives in the form of his life, on a steep upward trajectory, and his run style will be well suited to the demands of a modern-day Grand National. He has had some jumping lapses in the past, but more recently he’s been sound, and there could be even more improvement to come now tackling a marathon trip for the first time.
When looking through the market this morning I was surprised to see MINELLA INDO as big as 40/1 and I can’t resist getting him on side as well.
He was once a top-class chaser, winning the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in 2021 and, while he seemingly isn’t capable of such form anymore, he proved on his return in a Grade 3 at Punchestown (had won the same race the previous year) in October that he is no slouch, beaten only by First Dynamite who looked in top condition beforehand.
It is his run in the Grand National last year which makes him of big interest for me as he took extremely well to the National fences. You often get horses who look naturals on the National course and Minella Indo certainly created that impression, jumping and travelling well and looking to have all of his rivals in trouble coming down to the last fence.
He jumped the last still in the lead before being headed on the run-in by I Am Maximus and he also lost second place to Delta Work on his first try at a marathon trip. Timeform described the ground as soft 12 months ago but it looks set to be on the faster side this weekend, which will help him given his strong-travelling nature.
Minella Indo is now a 12-year-old, which is likely a main factor to him being 40/1, and you have to go back to Amberleigh House in 2004 for the last 12-year-old winner, but he has only been seen twice since and you would have to think he’s been trained with another crack at the National in mind.
He is 1lb lower than last year - 9lb better off with I Am Maximus - and Henry de Bromhead once again proved at the Cheltenham Festival that he is mustard at getting his horses to peak on the big days, and Minella Indo just looks overpriced in my eyes given the impression he created 12 months ago.
There isn’t really anything else I fancy at Aintree on Saturday at this stage of the week. I looked at Cruz Control in the William Hill Handicap Chase, a race he won 12 months ago, but he’s priced about right off the back of a poor effort at Wetherby on Boxing Day, and he has only run twice this season which is a slight worry.
Doctor Ken in the same race is a horse I’ve been waiting to reappear, too, but he’s been entered several times since his promising return from an absence in November, and hasn’t taken any of them up. He would be of interest if being declared, but he seemingly isn’t the easiest to train.
Preview posted at 1350 BST on 01/04/2025
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