Grand National Best Bet

Thanks to horse racing tipster Dylan Jenear fo his thoughts on what makes for the best bet on the grand national. Dylan writes for the popular odds comparison site ValueChecker where you can check out his daily horse racing previews.

Grand National 2010 Best Win Bet

Advice: 1pt win Black Apalachi

Bet on Black Apalachi now at 27-1 with Betfair and get a £50 Free Bet

Grand National 2010 Best Each Way Bet

Advice 1pt e/w Don't Push It

Bet on Dont Push It now at 20-1 with Boylesports and get a £40 Free Bet

How to assess the English Grand National

Not long to go before the annual Aintree equine extravaganza that is the English Grand National on April 10th, 2010, so it's time to run the rule over some of the leading candidates for the 4m 4f marathon and, moreover, attempt to unearth some value bets.

Mon Mome to Win Again?

It's hard to deny that last year's hero Mon Mome run an absolute cracking race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Venetia Williams' chaser couldn't live with Imperial Commander and Denman, finishing 30 lengths adrift of the winner, but the way he stayed on after becoming virtually tailed off was highly encouraging.

He's obviously been trained all season with a bid to protect his crown in this race in mind, so it's fair to assume that he wouldn't have been spot-on at Cheltenham, which makes the effort all the more meritorious. However, no horse since Red Rum in 1973 and '74 has won the world's most famous steeplechase two years in a row. That's a heck of a statistic to overcome. Consequently, at around the 10-1 mark, he's worth taking on.

Bet on Mon Mome now at 40-1 with Bet 365 and get a £200 Free Bet

Grand National Weights Influence

Just one horse in recent seasons - Hedgehunter under 11st 1lb in 2005 - has landed this race with more than 11st on its back. At the time of writing five of the first seven in the ante-post betting are set to carry 11st 4lb or more, so is it unwise to read too much into the previous record of high weight carriers?

Well, it stands to reason that a horse with a lighter weight is at an advantage over a stamina-sapping trip, but I genuinely believe that it's far from unreasonable to fancy a horse with a weight of 11st or over.

Bet on Black Apalachi now at 27-1 with Betfair and get a £50 Free Bet

One that certainly could do the job is BLACK APALACHI, who is set to carry 11st 6lb. Dessie Hughes' charge was going great guns in the lead when unseating Denis O'Regan at the twenty-second fence (Becher's Brook on the second circuit) in this race last season. It's impossible to say whether he would have won had he stayed on all fours, but he was travelling at least as well as anything else and, prior to that mishap, he had jumped the unique obstacles with aplomb. The son of Our Vic wouldn't want the ground to be too quick, but otherwise has strong claims at around the 16-1 mark at the time of writing.

Paul Nicholls or Tony McCoy to win the 2010 National?

Ironically, the dominant forces in jumping racing, trainer Paul Nicholls and jockey Tony McCoy, have yet to add this race to their glittering CVs. However, if McCoy opts to partner DON'T PUSH IT ahead of other potential mounts, which include Arbor Supreme and Can't Buy Time, he will have a sound chance to put the record straight - certainly a better chance than the gelding's odds (around the 25-1 mark at the time of writing) imply.

Bet on Dont Push It now at 20-1 with Boylesports and get a £40 Free Bet

Don't Push It didn't run much of a race over hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival when last seen out, but he has posted solid efforts in his three starts over fences this season, suggesting that he is as well as ever.

I am firmly of the opinion that Don't Push It will relish this extreme stamina test. The main worry is that, owing to his hold-up style of racing, there's always the possibility that he will get caught up in carnage created by fallers. However, if things were to go his way, it's not hard to envisage the 10-year-old playing a leading role.

Nicholls has two of the first three in the betting, again at the time of writing, in Big Fella Thanks and Tricky Trickster.

Bet on Big Fella Thanks now at 29-1 with Betfair and get a £50 Free Bet

Bet on Tricky Trickster now at 50-1 with Paddy Power and get a £100 Free Bet

The latter won the Aon Chase on his penultimate start before coming home a well-beaten ninth in the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. On that evidence he has plenty to find with Mon Mome, but the ex-Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained gelding looks just the type to excel in this contest, so cannot be dismissed lightly, while Big Fella Thanks comes firmly into the reckoning on the back of his victory at Newbury where to beat better-fancied stablemate Pasco.

There are many more to consider, including the likes of Snowy Morning and Vic Venturi, in what will be, as ever, a highly competitive and fascinating contest.