Doubtful staying pair lead each-way prospects for Grand National
Published:Tony McCoy has already indicated that he believes the Grand National winner will come from the top 20 of the 40 runners at the weights and this bodes well for the chances of Planet Of Sound and Calgary Bay at Aintree.
It is unusual for so many runners to be priced at 20/1 or shorter in the Grand National odds and therefore punters may be finding it difficult to eek out some each-way value at bigger prices.
However, Planet of Sound and Calgary Bay both put forward strong cases at 25/1, assuming they can stay all of the 4m4f distance.
Calgary Bay has hardly put a foot wrong since falling in last year’s Grand National and there is certainly a case to be made that he went down at the fourth fence because he overjumped rather than made an error.
He heads to Aintree this year on the back of successive victories, the most recent being in the solid Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster.
Calgary Bay is typically decent in any race up to 3m, but has tended to struggle when his stamina has been tested over further.
But trainer Henrietta Knight expects the horse’s jumping to hold out and if steering clear of trouble and finding an early rhythm, he could sneak into it in the latter stages.
Meanwhile, Planet Of Sound is particularly consistent, finishing inside the first three on 15 of his 20 career starts.
He has finished second this season in the Hennessy Gold Cup on a return from a long lay-off and he has been turned out again since to ensure he is tip-top for Aintree.
Planet Of Sound is a former winner over 3m, but has never really been tried at anything close to Grand National distance.
