Love of Aintree and April key for one Grand National contender
Published:What more could a punter want when looking to identify the winner of the Grand National than a horse that is not only unbeaten at Aintree, but also one that has never previously tasted defeat in April?
Well one horse can answer yes to both of these questions and can be backed at 20/1 to win the Grand National. The horse is Triolo D’Alene.
His sole start at Aintree came at the Grand National Festival 12 months ago, when landing the Topham Chase under a fairly patient ride from Barry Geraghty.
He then headed to Taunton to take in another April handicap, securing victory over 3m when eased down towards the finish.
This season must already be regarded as a success for Triolo D’Alene after his triumph in the Hennessy Gold Cup back in November.
The obvious negative to this success is that he will be running off a 10lb higher mark at Aintree and there will be others that appear better handicapped.
No horse has ever managed to win both races in the same season, but there are some examples of Hennessy winners that have come extremely close at Aintree.
Suny Bay was second to Earth Summit in 1998 and What’s Up Boys got to within two lengths of Bindaree in 2001.
What Triolo D’Alene will need is the rain to stay away from Aintree in the coming days and Henderson believes his slightly disappointing run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup may help put him right for this.
He was well backed at Cheltenham, but only finished down in 10th. Although it is worth noting that he was still in with every chance as the field jumped the third last.
To make the frame, seven-year-old Triolo D’Alene will also have to bust the trend of no horse finishing in the first four of the Grand National in the last decade being younger than eight.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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