Grand National Sweepstake 2010 Online

We will be setting up the Grand National Sweepstake as soon as the final runners and riders are confirmed. Then, all you will have to do is enter the names of the people in your sweepstake and we will do the draw for you at a convenient time which you choose.

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From the first official list of 111 Grand National 2010 entrants announced on February 3rd 2010, we now have 75 horses that remain in contention following two official scratching deadlines on March 2nd and March 22nd.

Steeple Chase
We still have two more cut off points on the 5th and 8th of April and absolutely anything can happen on the run up to the big day on April 10th. Horses get sick, they get injured, owners and trainers change their minds so it’s still all to play for. Initially, 13 horses were excluded leaving 98 horses in the running for the big race. But with so many of the horses racing at the Cheltenham Festival in March many trainers used the time to ultimately determine if their horses could seriously compete on April 10th.

With some disappointing performances, it would appear that many trainers and owners decided to bow out of the Grand National this year and officially withdrew their horses by the March 22nd deadline. At this point a further 23 horses were eliminated leaving the now 75 horses to battle it out for one of the 40 places up for grabs.

BHA head of handicapping Phil Smith is pleased that all the field for this year’s John Smith’s Grand National should be running in the handicap, but has said that he would raise several leading contenders based on recent performances since the weights were announced on February 16.

Despite the fact that 63 of the remaining 75 horses all meet the current minimum weight criteria of 10-07, he also went on to say he’d expect the bottom weight to be 10st 4lb or 10st 5lb judging by what has happened in previous years.

Smith also commented on those horses who have been performing exceptionally well since the weights were announced advising that he would have Big Fella Thanks 5lbs higher following his run in the Greatwood Gold Cup and that The Package, and Bobbyjo Chase one-two Vic Venturi and Black Apalachi would also be raised.

Paul Eddison of www.grand-national.me.uk said “I’m not surprised by his comments regarding the weights as this happens every year. The racing season is packed with opportunities for trainers to get their horses ready for the National and many of those races take place after weights have been announced.”

Eddison went on to say “As a trainer it is ideal to receive a lower weight from the handicapper as it gives your horse a better chance of getting around the grueling course at the Aintree Grand National, and if, after the allocation of weights, you can then get a couple of wins under your horses belt as part of your preparation then all the better.”

Some horses, however, are weighted so heavily that it gives for serious pause and in some cases it is just not worth it to aim for the Grand National. Once such case is Albertas Run who, fresh off the back of the Ryanair Chase win at Cheltenham, had looked very promising for the Grand National. But with the top weight of 11-10 his trainer and owner decided to withdraw him and instead look at some alternative Aintree meeting races for him to take part in.

For some trainers the opposite is true as in the case of Chief Dan George who’s exceptionally low weight of 10-02 means that he falls below the minimum weight requirement. With back to back wins since the weights were announced he would be nearly a stone higher if he were to be handicapped today but as it stands he may not even make the race.

One unsurprising withdrawal was that of War of Attrition whose trainer, Mouse Morris, had been openly critical of the weight allocated to him on February 16th. Following a relatively poor performance at Cheltenham it would appear that Morris finally decided the War was not ready for Aintree and the weight of 11-03 would not help matters and so took him out of the running.

Though other noted horses have been withdrawn such as Possol, Our Vic, Roulez Cool, Gone to Lunch, Casey Jones and Seven Is My Number, there were no real shock surprises amoung those now out of the race.

Paul Eddison says “We still have two more cut off points on the 5th and 8th of April and absolutely anything can happen on the run up to the big day on April 10th. Horses get sick, they get injured, owners and trainers change their minds so it’s still all to play for.”

As for who he thinks is going to win, Eddison comments “If I knew that I’d be a very rich and happy man. The Grand National is one of the most unpredictable races on the calendar so we’ll have to wait until closer to the race day to see who’s really on form before I’ll put my neck on the chopping block!”