Grand National Lucky Dip

School Boy Hours only makes it into the big race due two of the owners other horses becoming non-runners within minutes of the final cut off point for reserves to be added to the race. Conspiracy theorists will no doubt suggest that the withdrawal of Easyland and Phoenix Way was done to facilitate School Boy Hours making the final field. School Boy Hours looks likely to be one of the leading players from the JP McManus owned battalion of runners based on his victory in one of the most competitive handicaps of the season, the Paddy Power at Leopardstown. Oddly, that win at Leopardstown was the Noel Meade trained gelding’s first win over fences and only the second win of his career. Despite the lack of wins, it would appear that the stable has always thought highly of this gelding who is a half-brother to the Grade One winning hurdler and chaser, Finian’s Oscar. School Boy Hours has already come up against the likes of Asterion Forlonge, Eklat De Rire and Latest Exhibition in his previous races so perhaps his lack of victories in novice chases was understandable. The handicapper reacted to the gelding’s win in the 100k race at Leopardstown by raising him nine pounds which looks fair given the quality of the opposition he beat that day. School Boy Hours’ ability to see out the marathon distance of the Grand National must be taken on trust as three miles is the furthest distance he has raced over at the moment. He is, though, a son of Presenting who has sired a high number of marathon chase winners including Ballabriggs in the Grand National. A possible question mark about School Boy Hours is the fact that he has fallen three times (twice over hurdles and once over fences) in a relatively short career. His jumping seemed fine at Leopardstown but it is unusual for a horse with such a high falls to races ratio to go on and win a race such as the Grand National. School Boy Hours' jumping let him down on his latest start at Cheltenham where a bad mistake at the fourth last fence led to him being pulled up. Another query on his Aintree chances could be the record of horses who have previously won the Paddy Power at Leopardstown. Of the last ten winners of that race, only one has gone on to win any further race (so far) in their careers. That statistic is, perhaps, just an anomaly but it could also indicate that such a competitive race may take much more out of the winner than we might imagine. To contrast that statistic, three winners of the race at Leopardstown have gone on to be placed in the Aintree Grand National - Anibale Fly, Oscar Time and Black Apalachi. Finally, trainer Noel Meade has had eight runners in the Aintree Grand National and has yet to have a horse placed. Only three of Meade’s runners have actually completed the course so perhaps School Boy Hours is a runner to treat with caution.