Grand National Odds: Any Second Now heads the list for Aintree
With the Cheltenham Festival now a fading memory for fans of jumps racing, attention turns to the next showpiece occasion in the sport's calendar; The Grand National at Aintree, scheduled to take place on April 9 2022. It is known as the biggest race of them all and certainly stops the nation, and indeed many corners of the globe as some of the most dour staying chasers in Britain and Ireland clash for the historic prize. Some bookmakers have started to shift their antepost books to non runner money back and with the final field taking shape we at BettingOdds.com are here to take you through some of the leading contenders for this year's meeting on Merseyside.
With non runner money back markets there is the obvious positive that you won't do your dough if you back a horse and for some reason they do not take their chance at Aintree. However, there is also a negative which is that bookmakers price many runners up on the skinny side in order to protect themselves. Additionally there will undoubtedly be extra places offered on the day compared to the current market, so it may be worth keeping your powder dry when it comes to a Grand National bet unless you think you've found a definite springer in the market.
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2022 Grand National Odds
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The market is currently headed by a horse set to run in the same silks as last year's winner, the JP McManus owned Any Second Now who is set to run in the race for the second time for trainer Ted Walsh. He finished an unlucky 8¼ third behind Minella Times in the 2021 renewal and many have argued he lost more than the losing margin when interfered with by a falling horse at the twelfth fence. Walsh's charge did remarkably well to even continue competing in the race after such a hampering, let alone come home with such a wet sail to finish in the places. He has reappeared this season and won well at Fairyhouse in the BobbyJo Chase back in February and looks a better horse than last season. He will be carrying more weight but will be better off with the winner and deserves his place at the top of the market. Last year's aforementioned winner Minella Times is set to face a tough task in trying to emulate the great Tiger Roll in going back to back at Aintree, with the mount of Rachael Blackmore set the task of carrying 15lbs more this season than he did last year to such an impressive success. As much as it was an impressive win last April, he had a dream run through the race and cannot expect such a perfect passage around a track with as many potential obstacles as the National Course holds for jumps racers. With the burden of top weight and some ropey performances this season his odds of 25/1 to reproduce look too short.
When Any Second Now won at Fairyhouse, the horse he beat in a photo finish in second Escaria Ten lost nothing in defeat over an inadequate trip and showed a battling attitude. The test of Aintree looks set to suit this gritty staying chaser with sound jumping being one of the main weapons in his arsenal. Straight after they met at Fairyhouse Any Second Now's price shortened while Gordon Elliott's inmate's stayed fairly static, but the market has corrected itself and now they are jostling for favouritism. Delta Work broke racing fans' hearts at Prestbury Park when rallying to deny his legendary stablemate Tiger Roll the perfect swansong in the Cross Country Chase, but he certainly did his chances of National success no harm with that performance. He was a Grade One class animal back in his pomp and after showing serious signs of a return to form for Gordon Elliott, he is now one of the leading contenders for this season's Grand National. If Delta Work is the pantomime villain, an undoubted hero (or heroine in fact) for lovers of the sport is Snow Leopardess. A stunning front running grey, she would be popular in any year with the casual punter due to her appearance but she will be fancied by shrewdies and once a year bettors alike this time around following her tremendous victory in the Becher Chase at this track and over these fences back in December. Charlie Longsdon's stable star would bring the house down with a win and she looks to have a strong chance of doing just that at odds of 16/1.
Enjoy D'Allen is another runner who will be carrying the iconic JP McManus silks around the National Fences if he lines up and throughout the winter he has seen his price shorten and shorten after a series of performances that although not winning ones have marked him out as every inch the type for the Grand National. He looks to have bottomless stamina and a good jumping style which is of course a necessity for any horse with aspirations of winning this race, and he comes into this race of a tantalising racing weight so cannot be discounted. Two horse vanquished at the Cheltenham Fesitval who will be looking to make amends for trainer Gordon Elliott are Run Wild Fred (beaten in the National Hunt Chase by Stattler) and Galvin (well beaten in the Gold Cup by A Plus Tard). It sounds almost perverse to say Run Wild Fred looked like he was crying out for more of a stamina test than he faced in the usually gruelling three mile six furlong race he contested at Cheltenham, but this looks a horse with a relentless gallop rather than a potent turn of foot so the National could be right up his street. The same could be said for Galvin too as he looked to be taken off his feet somewhat in the Gold Cup and the extra furlong around Aintree will do him no harm whatsoever. Providing Cheltenham has not taken too much out of him 25/1 looks a lovely price.
Further down the list are horses making a repeat trip to this race such as Farclas, Burrow Saint and Discorama. All three will have connections that are confident they can improve on past performances for a myriad of reasons and as is to be expected in a competitive race of this nature it would not come as a shock if one further down the odds table, such as Mount Ida, Hill Sixteen or even Windsor Avenue (quoted at an insulting three figure price with a few firms) outran their odds to scoop one of racing's biggest prizes.
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