Dan Skelton Grand National blog: ‘The positives are there’
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Ladbrokes presents the Dan Skelton Grand National blog, with the leading training running down all his runners in the races on Saturday, including the prestigious Grand National at 4pm.
Dan Skelton Grand National blog
Harry rides West Balboa who I think has a massive chance. She obviously won this race last year and through no fault of her own things haven’t worked out that well for her this year after putting up a strong performance at aintree in November. Things went completely pear-shaped for her in the Longwalk Hurdle. We have got things back on track though with two runs this side of the New Year and I feel like she is really coming back to her best now. She gets a few pounds off the top weight and the more sun on her back the better.
He won a race more valuable than this last time out would you believe. He is in very good form and I am very much looking forward to getting him out there again. He handles soft ground no problem. He has been in good form at home since. He is a hard horse to judge in the sense that he’s not flashy. He looks very happy and healthy though and I am looking forward to this.
We also run Seefin in the race who ran no race at all last time but he’s got no weight in this. I don’t know why he underperformed so badly because he was in great form at home. He never got out of bed that day. He stays three miles and likes soft ground so the positives are there.
We’ve trained him specifically for this race. He wasn’t beaten by far last time and that looks good form. The track, trip, and ground are all good for him.
Proschema has massive numbers to find in this and he would need the ground to dry up significantly. He has been off a while with niggly little problems which is a real shame because he has lots of talent. We will be keeping a close eye on the ground.
We have Galia Des Liteaux entered into the Grand National and she is in great form. We have trained her specifically for the race and she looks great. She handles soft ground, she stays very well, and she is showing better form in bigger fields now. I think the bigger fields really suit her. It is hugely competitive as you would expect but with the ground the way it is, she definitely has a squeak because she is effective over a big trip on soft ground and she hasn’t much weight either. There are a whole host of horses that I’m respectful of so we just have to do our best.
He is three from three over fences. He takes his chance here in his first graded race over fences. Arkle placed horse Found A Fifty will be very hard to beat but I am very happy with him. His work has been good and everything has been exactly how we want it. I have trained him specifically for this race and with a bit of luck, all goes to plan.
He is having his second run for us. His first run for us was in the autumn at Cheltenham. He hasn’t run since because the ground was so bad. The fresh soft ground isn’t a problem here.
How to watch the 2024 Grand National
UK fans will be able to watch the Grand National this year on ITV, as they’v been able to do since 2017. Prior to that, horse racing fans were able to watch on Channel 4 from 2013, and on the BBC from when the race first started being broadcast in 1960. Of course, Racing TV will also be broadcasting the race.
Ed Chamberlin, known to football fans for his prior work on Sky Sports alongside Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, will be ITV’s host for the Grand National this year, just as he was for Cheltenham Festival last month.
All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.
