Gemini Grand National Horses

Anibale Fly must go down as one of the ‘nearly’ horses in recent National Hunt history with his record of finishing second and third in consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups and fourth and fifth in the last two Grand Nationals. Tony Martin’s gelding has also won some good races including a Grade 3 Chase at Naas in 2017 and the 96k Paddy Power Handicap Chase the same year. The eleven-year-old gelding is, however, now on an eighteen-race losing streak that stretches back over four years. The upside of that lack of wins is that he is now looking extremely well handicapped. The British handicapper has given him a mark of 148 for this race which is sixteen pounds lower than his fifth-place finish at the last Grand National three years ago and eleven pounds lower than his fourth placing the year before that. He was also pulled up in last year's National from a mark of 155 (seven pounds higher.) All ground conditions seem to come alike to Anibale Fly with his four best runs on Racing Post Ratings coming on Good to Soft, Soft and Heavy so he appears versatile when it comes to whatever the ground throws up at Aintree. The problem is that despite the long losing run Anibale Fly could usually be relied upon to put in good performances in defeat, but his form has got very patchy with just a couple of placed efforts surrounded by efforts where he has hardly beat a horse home.  It could be that trainer Tony Martin has been gearing this horse up solely for the Grand National and the trainer was interviewed recently and was very positive about the horse's chance saying that this race has been the aim all season. It does though rely on taking a big leap of faith that this former good horse is going to suddenly spring back to form.

Assistant trainer Joe Tizzard commented, at the release of the Grand National weights, that Aintree had been this horse’s target since he finished runner-up in the Ladbrokes Handicap Chase at Newbury. Tizzard confirmed that Fiddlerontheroof had been purposedly kept off the racecourse to preserve his handicap mark for the Grand National. The handicapper has raised the eight-year-old gelding by five pounds to 155 for his exploits at Newbury and since the weights were posted for Aintree the Tizzard trained gelding has underlined his wellbeing with a second-place finish in a 48k handicap at Ascot. Fiddlerontheroof’s ability to stay the marathon distance of the Grand National has to be taken on trust and his sire, Stowaway, has only had one previous runner in the National (66/1 chance Outlander who finished in a distant ninth place in 2019). Whilst Stowaway is responsible for an impressive set of offspring such as Monkfish, Kilcooley and Put The Kettle on, there are very few instances of him siring horses who have won at marathon distances. The Tizzards believe their horse can be competitive from his current mark in a Grand National and, whilst he has the stamina to prove, he looks like the sort of horse who could be well supported to win at Aintree.

Samcro started his career with eight consecutive victories from a point to point through two bumpers and then four hurdle wins that culminated in him taking the Ballymore Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. At that stage of his career, he looked to have the racing world at his hooves, but four consecutive defeats followed over hurdles (all of which he was favourite for), and the decision was made to switch the gelding to fences. Samcro’s career over fences got off to a good start with a seventeen length victory but then he fell in a Grade One novice chase at Fairyhouse and then was well beaten at odds on by Faugheen in another Grade One at Limerick. These were unexpected reverses and, as a result, he was allowed to go off at 4/1 third favourite for the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase at the 2020 Festival. This time however Samcro dug deep and was victorious by a nose from Melon with a further length back to his old foe, Faugheen. After his second Cheltenham Festival win, the Samcro bandwagon looked to be back in top shape and plans were made for a tilt at the Ryanair or the Gold Cup. A number of niggling injuries meant that the horse was restricted to just two outings prior to his third run at the Festival where he finished third behind Batteloverdoyen and was pulled up in the Savills Chase. The same outcome occurred in the Ryanair where his jumping seemed to unravel. This season saw Samcro get back on the winning trail with a hard-fought victory over Cilaos Emery at Killarney in May but since then he has put in five very lacklustre performances. For a career that started so well, it looks as if there is something either physically or mentally wrong with Samcro as he appears to be a shadow of his former self. Optimists will point to the fact that the horse has been rated as high as 160 over fences and gets to line up here off 152. The downside to that is Samcro has previously run in two handicaps and was beaten seventy-one lengths and sixty-nine lengths, respectively. Samcro's best days look behind him and he can surely only be backed by his most die-hard fans.

A shrewd yard who can place their runners well, they sent over thirteen-year-old Vics Canvas for the 2016 Grand National and under the guidance of Robbie Dunne managed to place in third place. This former PTP runner pulled off one of the biggest shocks in 2021 when landing the Irish Grand National at a massive 150/1! He got into the race off 10-8 and made all that day to win the race under Ricky Doyle. He has only been seen a handful of times since that win and has yet to win again, he fell in the Cross Country at the November Meeting at Cheltenham when he looked to be in with a chance and when last seen it was over hurdles which could have been to protect his mark or they were just looking to get some confidence back into him. He had some decent types behind him at the Irish National, including Run Wild Fred who was runner-up, and he went on to finish runner-up in the Challenge Cup at the Cheltenham Festival and those two were over three lengths clear of the next runner. He has struggled over hurdles and holds a 0-9 record but he really does like the larger obstacles, he is now a six-time winner over them, three miles and five furlongs on yielding ground in the Irish National showed that stamina should not be an issue and he also has three other wins over three miles and one furlong under rules to back that up. They are not the biggest of yards but they seem to place their runners well and Freewheelin Dylan will come here 10lbs higher than his Irish National win, the same mark as what he was running well off at Cheltenham before unseating his rider.