Grand National Lucky Dip

Brahma Bull is a really likeable and consistent handicapper who always seems to give his all in his races. His one victory this season came way back on the 1st of May when he won a big three-mile handicap chase at the Punchestown Festival. He then went to the Galway Plate but found everything happening too quickly for him in that race. Normal service was resumed when the eleven-year-old finished second to Assemble in the Kerry National. Brahma Bull then ran Galvin to three lengths in receipt of eight pounds. Another excellent run followed when finishing third at 40/1 in the Ladbrokes Handicap Chase at Newbury and then running former Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo to seven lengths at Tramore in January. Brahma Bull's two subsequent runs (Pulled Up in the Thyestes at Gowran Park and Unseating his rider in his first attempt at Cross Country races at the Cheltenham Festival) are not up to his usual high level of performance but there are reasons those efforts can be forgiven. It appears that better ground suits this son of Presenting better as he has gotten older and the going at Gowran was very soft. The unseat at Cheltenham was understandable given it was his first attempt at that discipline, so he is likely to be much more at home on decent ground at Aintree. The four-mile two-furlong distance of the Grand National could prove an issue to Brahma Bull who has only had one completed attempt at marathon races when finishing over thirty lengths behind Freewheelin Dylan in last year's Irish National. Whilst the distance is a concern, Brahma Bull has proved his effectiveness from this sort of handicap mark, and he looks an outsider to keep on side with.