Only five races are run over the Grand National fences each season and two of those take place at Aintree on Saturday. The Becher Chase and the Grand Sefton Chase are handicaps over three miles and two furlongs and two miles and five furlongs respectively. Former winners of two of the other races on the Grand National course are fancied to oblige in a double that pays +7400 with online bookmakers. One For Arthur and Ultragold relish the course and can both win at decent prices.
The Grand National obstacles are different to park fences in appearance and make-up. The outside material is dark-green spruce compared to the black colouring of regular fences. Some of the fences have iconic names, such as the Chair, Becher's Brook and Valentines. They still take some jumping but are more forgiving than in the past. The fences have been modified to make the Grand National safer and avoid the fatalities that have marred the race in the past.
Some horses take to the fences, while others get outside their comfort zone and make errors. The Grand National has a history of horses completing the demanding course over a number of years. The handicapper applies the Aintree factor so the weights are framed with reference to form on the course more than collateral results over regulation fences on conventional tracks. One For Arthur and Ultragold are not the form and ratings picks but are fancied because of their experience on the track and over the Grand National fences.
The Becher Chase is an important trial for the Grand National. It is run over 21 of the National obstacles. Two winners have then won the National, namely Amberleigh House and Silver Birch. Earth Summit won the Becher Chase in 1998 having won the National the previous April. Six winners since 2000 have carried more than 11 stone and the winning-most age this century is nine years with seven wins. Nigel Twiston-Davies is the leading trainer with six wins, including three since 2010.
One For Arthur is trained by Lucinda Russell, who has not won the Becher Chase in the past. Her runner won the Grand National in 2017. The horse travelled and jumped well and stayed on strongly after the final fence to win by four and a half lengths. One For Arthur did not run for 19 months due to injury but unseated the rider on two starts in the next season. He was backed for the National this year and ran a good race to finish sixth, 26 lengths behind Tiger Roll. He jumped well and was in contention to make the frame before weakening in the final furlong. One For Arthur can win at Aintree again, in the Becher Chase this Saturday.
The Grand Sefton race was a prestigious contest in its first life from 1865 to 1965. It was revived in 2003 but is not so important in its second guise. It is a handicap chase over one circuit and a bit of the Grand National course and there are 18 fences. Eight winners in the history of the race carried 11 stone or more, including the last three. Ten of the 19 winners were aged eight or nine years, but no horse has won the race more than once.
Ultragold is proven over the course and distance so will not be phased by the fences and the nature of the track. The horse won the Topham Chase over the National fences in 2017 and 2018. He also finished third in the Becher Chase last season and completed the course in the Grand National. Ultragold has negotiated 88 fences on the Grand National course without looking like falling. He is the epitome of a horse that shows better form over the National fences than park fences on other tracks. The horse can enhance his record at Aintree by winning the Grand Sefton Chase this Saturday, completing the double for the old stagers with One For Arthur.