Four horses who are well-in at the Grand National weights

There are many things to look out for when picking out a potential winner from the Grand National betting, with a liking for the good ground usually encountered at Aintree in the spring, experience over the unique fences/in big fields and an experienced and talented rider in the saddle all important factors, but with the weights for the 4m4f marathon set back on February 13th, there is also the matter of assessing which horses may have shown improvement since being allotted their burden.

Those runners whose handicap marks have improved since they handicapper assessed them for the National can still run off their old ratings meaning they carry less weight than they would it if they were racing of their most up to date mark.

The following horses have all turned in fine performances since the weights came out and find themselves in the fine position of being “well-in” for the big race.

Cappa Bleu – 12/1 – Evan Williams chaser was already strongly fancied for the race having finished fourth last year and finds himself well treated courtesy of a fine second to Vino Griego in on 16th of February. He’ll run off a mark of 145 in at Aintree despite being rated 147 for all future races.

Chicago Grey – 14/1 – Weighted according to an official rating of 141 in the Grand National handicap, Gordon Elliot’s mercurial hold up horse posted a real return to form on the 19th of February when seeing off Foildubh to earn a new mark of 149, leaving him 8lbs well-in for Saturday’s big race.

Rare Bob – 25/1 – Quite apart from having rising star Bryan Cooper in the plate Rare Bob’s recent Navan third under 11st10lbs has seen his official rating rise to 146. Luckily for backers who fancy Dessie Hughes’ gelding he’ll face off against his Aintree adversaries weighted as if he was a 140-rated animal.

Soll – 33/1 – The handicapper has behaved rather cordially with Jo Hughes chaser all season long, dropping 8lbs to a mark of 132 when the Grand National weights were released. He then promptly stepped down in class and won over three and a half miles with authority in early March. He’ll compete in future handicaps off a mark of 139, but on Saturday he’ll be 7lb better off with his rivals than he should be.