Grand National preview: Alex Hammond tips for Aintree

Another strong Irish challenge for the Grand National - who's your pick from their raiding party?

Well, there are plenty to choose from with the usual strong in quality and quantity raiding party from Ireland. If Hewick were to win though that would continue the fairytale his connections have experienced with this little fighter. His recent spin/win over hurdles should have put him spot on for this.

Gavin Cromwell will be going into the race with a pep in his step with Stumptown, Percival Legallois and Vanillier. The Gold Cup-winning trainer is having his most successful season in Britain on the prize money scale (thanks to the win of Inothewayurthinkin) and in Ireland both numerically and financially. Don’t ask me which of his trio is the best though!

Iroko is the shortest-priced British runner - is he the best chance among the home contenders?

Well, I hope not as I’ve been banging the Kandoo Kid drum for some time. Not that I don’t wish Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero the best of luck with Iroko, who has been laid out for this, but I hope Kandoo Kid can beat him.

The Paul Nicholls-trained grey jumped round these fences a year ago when third in the Topham and I was really impressed with him when winning the 3m 2f Coral Gold Cup. There are questions to be answered on the stamina front, but his pedigree suggests that it is in there, with the granddam a full sister to a horse that stayed four miles. Who knows until you go into that unchartered territory but it’s not an everyday trip and until you try you don’t know. He’s 20/1 with Sky Bet who are paying six places.

Who do you like as a lively outsider?

Nick Rockett is on my shortlist. He’s one of the Willie Mullins runners and at 25/1 isn’t a whopping outsider but his name keeps cropping up. He doesn’t look blazingly well handicapped off a mark of 163, but he beat Irish National winner Intense Raffles in the Bobbyjo Chase on his last start and that looks strong form given the chat around that horse.

That race is a notable trial and has been a successful stepping stone to the National in the past including with I Am Maximus last year. Nick Rockett isn’t the biggest horse by all accounts but that didn’t stop Tiger Roll. Intense Raffles is also a strong contender and at the age of seven is still on the up.

At a bigger price let’s see if this course revitalises Bravemansgame. James Reveley is an interesting jockey booking as this is a horse that appears to have fallen out of love with racing so he may suit a complete change. He has tumbled down the handicap as a result and hunting round here may help him. He’s a 50/1 shot for a reason but he may remember he’s a classy horse with an engine if the mood takes him.

Decision time...Your Grand National 1-2-3-4-5-6 please?

1 Kandoo Kid

2 Hewick

3 Intense Raffles

4 Nick Rockett

5 Iroko

6 Bravemansgame

What else are you looking forward to over the three days at Aintree?

I’d like to see Constitution Hill put in a clear round after his Champion Hurdle fall and a heart stopping moment at the same track on his penultimate start. He is getting a touch complacent with his jumping and it’s always a fine margin between success and failure with these high class hurdlers. Their jumping is so efficient that it only takes a slight misjudgement for it to come undone and that’s what happened last month. He’s been schooling well at Seven Barrows, and I hope he flies round and shows us how good he is once again.

The Bowl Chase is also on Thursday, and I think Spillane’s Tower can bounce back from his King George disappointment. He’s 3/1 second favourite with Sky Bet. His second place in the John Durkan at Punchestown in November when Fact To File won and Galopin Des Champs was third is sensational form.

Lulamba is a horse with a very bright future and trainer Nicky Henderson has opted to run in Saturday’s Mersey Novices’ Hurdle rather than the juvenile race earlier in the week. I saw this horse on his UK debut at Ascot and he looked formidable. He will get weight from his rivals in this contest and that makes him an incredibly attractive proposition.

Speaking of progressive novice hurdlers, Rubber Ball will be a fair price in Friday’s Top Novices’ Hurdle. I really liked what I saw when he won at Newbury in February and whilst he has plenty to find on ratings, he could be an each way shout in that. He’s 50/1.

Finally, Myretown is a leading contender for the 3m 1f handicap chase on Saturday. He took a heavy fall at Windsor in January but bounced back in style to win at Kelso before looking very smart (and very well handicapped) in winning the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival. He’s not as obviously well handicapped as he was last month but he’s an exciting horse for Lucinda Russell and deserves to be 3/1 favourite.

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