Apart from Mon Mome's shock 100/1 success in last year's John Smith's Grand National, the other big surprise for the formbook was the run of unconsidered Cerium, who stayed on well after crossing the Melling Road after three out to finish a tremendous fifth of the 40 runners, writes Elliot Slater.
A few years earlier Cerium had been a decent sort when trained by Paul Nicholls, winning the Grade 2 Amlin 1965 Chase at Ascot in 2006 after which his official rating rose to a pretty smart 154. His subsequent loss of form resulted in him changing hands for just 13,000 guineas in spring 2008 and joining little known trainer Paul Murphy.
When he lined up for the 2009 Grand National there would have been few prepared to bet that Cerium would even complete the course never mind finish a tremendous fifth, but having shown a little of the old sparkle at home the gelding's owner Fergus Wilson backed his charge at 500/1 each-way to finish in the first five, betting that resulted in his owner being paid out at 125/1 for the place odds when Cerium finished on the heels of the first four home!
Not seen on a racecourse since his Aintree heroics last year, Cerium has been allotted 10st 5lbs for this April's event, a weight that makes it a borderline possibility that he will actually be amongst the starters. Murphy and his team will be praying that the connections of 30 or more horses above Cerium in the weights will decide to shirk the Aintree challenge.
Some horses just seem to come alive over the daunting spruce obstacles of the Grand National and there seems little doubt that Cerium is such an animal. If he gets a chance to tackle the four-and-a-half mile course once again, Horse Racing Betting experts say there is every reason to believe that he will prove last year's effort no fluke at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment