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Grand National Betting: The Irish contenders, rated by an Irishman

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Wayne Bailey, our man from the Emerald Isle, gives his views on the leading runners from Ireland

If there's one race the Irish love to 'raid', it's the Aintree Grand National - the greatest steeplechase of all. National Hunt racing has its origins in Ireland with the first recorded steeplechase taking place in Cork in 1752... so what better way to celebrate this history than taking the best steeplechase in the world! In fact, the English actually poured scorn over the idea of jump racing when they heard about it first, but thankfully they've come round to the joys of jumping long since!

There's also the not so little matter of £800,000 in prize money to tempt Irish horses across the water. Irish raiders have taken this race six times in the past ten years, and are looking to make it four in a row in 2008. Here's a look at those Irish horses that may have what it takes this year:

Slim Pickings
Third in last year's race, Slim Pickings now has Grand National race experience under his belt which is a major plus. In fact, over the past 20 years, 19 of the horses finishing in the first four ran in the previous year's race. One negative is that we must go back as far as 2006 to find a win from this horse, but he's still young enough for improvement. His current price is [14.5].

Chelsea Harbour
Thomas Mullins' eight year old has plenty of potential, and buckets of stamina. He won the National Trial on home soil at Punchestown and is a solid reliable sort. At the moment, he's [17.5] on Betfair, which seems like a fair price.

King Johns Castle
He's won/placed in over half of his races to date, and Moore's gelding has been attracting plenty of money in Kildare - with quite a bit coming from the stable itself. He's stepping up in distance, which is a negative but he seems to be treated fairly in the weights at 10st 11lbs. He's current price is [28.0].

Snowy Morning
I'm a huge fan of this horse, trained by Willie Mullins. He disappointed last time out when coming third at odds of [1.77], but jockey DJ Condon felt afterwards that he may have been just having an off day and did not jump with his usual fluency. If as hoped, he was just having a bad day, 11st 1lb is certainly not too much of a burden. Mullins however, is not too happy with this weight. His current price is [28.0].

Point Barrow
He won the Irish National in 2006 and seems way overpriced at [30.0] on Betfair. The bookies are not taking such chances, and some have him as short as 14/1. Unfortunately, he fell at the first fence last year, but this type of race should be ideal should he stay up.

Hedgehunter
He was placed last year, and won the race in 2006, so he comes here with a good CV. However, there are two stand out stats that are impossible to ignore... Firstly, in the past 50 years, only Red Rum has carried more than 11st 5lbs to victory. With 11st 12lbs, Hedgehunter has it all to do if he wants to emulate Red Rum's two Grand National victories. Secondly, only one 12-year-old has won in the past ten years. He's a great horse, but has a huge task ahead of him. He's currently priced at [40.0]

Dun Doire
Tony Martin has been paying special attention to this horse at home, and that has sparked the usual flood of money once word got out. He's been slashed to 20/1 with the bookies, but still available at [40.0] on Betfair. He's certainly has a very live chance, and there's noting to suggest that he can't take some place money at the very least.

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