Unfortunately, our headline selection
for the Grand National, Gas Line Boy, got no further than the first
fence and while our other selections, Night In Milan and Oscar Time,
completed the course, they did so in their own time. Frankly, neither
of them ever looked like troubling the judge but, undaunted, we move
on, this week, to the Scottish Grand National, run over 4 miles and
110 yards around the left-handed circuit at Ayr.
One of the lovely things about the
Scottish Grand National is that it can be won by horses racing out of
the handicap, as in the case of Joes Edge (20/1) in 2005, Iris De
Balme (66/1) in 2008 and Al Co (40/1) last year. In fact, Iris De
Balme carried fully 26lb more than his long handicap weight, so
pretty much anything’s possible – and that’s fine by us!
Although Benvolio (14/1) doesn’t
really qualify as an ‘outsider’, it’s interesting that Tony
McCoy said earlier in the week that he wouldn’t take a ride in the
Scottish National ‘just for the sake of it’ and recorded his sole
win in the race on Belmont King, trained by Paul Nicholls – trainer
of Benvolio – in 1997. The 8-year-old is beyond our usual remit,
but we probably exclude him from calculations at our peril.
The one that really ‘floats our boat’
this week, though, is Carrigdhoun (33/1). Right at the foot of the
weights – in fact, 4lb out of the handicap – Maurice Barnes’
10-year-old overcame an absence of 510 days to win on his belated
seasonal debut in March and was far from disgraced when second,
beaten 6 lengths, behind Virak, at Haydock two weeks ago. The
Goldmark gelding has yet to win beyond 3 miles 2 furlongs, but the
step up to marathon distances could be what he needs at this stage of
his career and he looks a sporting bet at the odds on offer. Jockey
Michael McAllister may be sweating to make his allotted weight of 9st
10lb, but if he had to put up overweight it wouldn’t be the end of
the world.
Watch out for Benvolio, but our one,
bona fide selection this week is Carrigdhoun (33/1 with Sky Bet or
Betvictor. Good luck!
