Analysing the favourites for the Grand National

The Grand National Festival is on the horizon, with the meeting set to take place at the iconic Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside from the 7^th-9^th April, but with it comes a mixed bag of emotions for jump racing fans. 

It’s one of the major events we all look forward to when the National Hunt campaign gets underway in November, but it also more-or-less marks the end of the season — with just the Jumps Finale at Sandown left to draw the curtain. 

The marathon contest is the biggest race of the season as far as the bookies are concerned, with millions of punters having a flutter on the Grand National betting markets. However, with a huge field and testing fences, it’s notoriously difficult to pick a winner in the four-mile, two-and-a-half-furlong phenomenon. 

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the ante-post market and analyse the chances of some of the favourites. Read on to find out more! 

Any Second Now – 7/1

The green and gold-hooped silks of JP McManus are synonymous with jump racing and the Irish billionaire, who is the most successful owner in the United Kingdom and Ireland, will be looking for back-to-back victories in the Grand National with Any Second Now the race favourite and his main hope of taking his overall tally to three. 

Having come third in last year’s renewal, just over eight lengths behind Minella Times, the 10-year-old has proven that he can cope with the challenges of Aintree and after beating Escaria Ten over the line by nothing more than a nose in the Grade 3 Bobbjo Chase at Fairyhouse in February, he heads to Merseyside as the 7/1 market leader. 

Any Second Now will be carrying a lot more weight this year though, with an allocated 11-8 from the handicapper — up substantially from the 10-9 he took around Aintree last year. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how he copes. 

Delta Work – 8/1

Probably one of the only horses ever to be booed at the Cheltenham Festival, Delta Work’s recent victory in the Cross Country Chase definitely didn’t sit well with the packed concourses of Prestbury Park — as the crowd made their feelings clear after the Gordon Elliott-trained horse denied his stablemate Tiger Roll of a fitting swansong and a record sixth victory at the Festival. 

The nine-year-old, also owned by Gigginstown House Stud, will be looking to emulate the success of the Tiger now though, backing up his Cross Country victory with a Grand National triumph — just as the 12-year-old did in 2018 and 2019. The 8/1 shot will be carrying an additional four pounds (11-8) more than that Festival success, but you can guarantee there will be no jeers at Aintree should he land the lucrative £500,000 prize purse. 

Enjoy D’allen – 10/1

The second of McManus’ entries to feature at the fore of the betting, there’s a narrow gap to Enjoy D’allen in the maket at 10/1. The eight-year-old was third in last year’s Irish Grand National, finishing just four and a half lengths behind Freewheelin Dylan from a huge 40/1 in the €216,000-to-the-winner contest. 

The Ciaran Murphy-trained horse is winless in six outings, dating back to Thurles last January, but he was an impressive third in the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown in December — again from big odds (28/1). 

Fifth last time out, Enjoy D’allen has been given a seemingly generous 10-10 by the handicapper, perhaps why he is as short as 10/1. However, this is his first time over the Aintree fences, so he will have his work cut out. 

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Escaria Ten, another Elliott-trained runner, is also a 10/1 chance, while Snow Leopardess, an in-form grey and a winner at Aintree already this season, makes for an interesting bet at 14/1. 

*All odds correct at the time of writing.