Classiest Grand National field of all time ready for a fast and furious show
By Andy Stephens@StevoGG
Fri 9 Apr 2021
Forty horses. Forty jockeys. Thirty fences dressed in spruce. The Randox Grand National is always one of the great spectacles of the sporting year and the world’s most famous race will be watched by an estimated a global audience of 600 million on Saturday.
Casual viewers turning in for their once-a-year fix might not notice, but modifications mean the showpiece is not the contest it once was.
The fences are less fearsome than in days of old and the race distance has been shortened, with the one-time long run to the first fence no more. Only three horeses fell in the latest renewal, which must constitute a record and suggests the tinkering has brought benefits.
Grand National 2021: Pinstickers guide to Aintree runners & riders
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The Leader Newspaper
By Andrew Atkinson
Randox Health Aintree Grand National 7-2 favourite Cloth Cap has an outstanding chance of chalking up a quartet of National victories for owner Trevor Hemmings.
Jonjo O’Neill trained 9-year-old, whose odds were shortened from 20-1 in the weeks leading up to the National, is ‘thrown-in’ at the weights – carrying 10st 5lbs.
“We are going there with a live chance. We always felt Cloth Cap is a good jumper and stayed, two credentials for the National,” said O’Neill.
“If right on the day we have a glowing chance. He is a stronger horse this year,” added O’Neill.