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Trained by Paul Nicholls, the Irish Tricky Trickster is already one of the ante-post favourites for the 2010 Grand National at Aintree. Paddy Power has him at 18/1 while William Hill has him even shorter at 16/1, but does he really have a chance of winning? Generally speaking Grand National winners have historically been nine or ten years old as age and experience are absolutely vital to get around this difficult course. Tricky Trickster, however, is only six years old and won't be seven until June so immediately he's at a bit of a disadvantage. But age can be overcome if a horse has the necessary stamina and has both run and hopefully won a previous race of at least three and a half miles which Tricky Trickster has done when he won the 4 mile National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup at Cheltenham in March 2009. So he has proved that he does have what it takes to go the distance. Weight becomes the third biggest obstacle for a horse entering the Grand National and how the handicappers rate you is over paramount importance. The higher the weight the more difficult it becomes to win. Mon Mome, the 2009 winner, was weighted at 11-00, while the 2008 winner, Comply or Die, was only at 10-09. If Tricky Trickster is given anything over 11-03 it'll be another blow to his chances as historically horses carrying more than this don't do so well.
Tricky Trickster has been moved about quite a bit in his short career. He was originally owned by the Million in Mind partnership, and had been trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies to his Cheltenham festival victory. However, all Million in Mind horses go to sale at the end of the season and Tricky Trickster was bought for a cool £320,000 by Chris Giles of Manor Farm Stables, who handed the horse over to Paul Nicholls for training. Surprisingly, champion trainer Nicholls has never had an Aintree win, but it is thought that with Tricky Trickster the National may not elude him for much longer. The trainer has been on fire recently and with both Cheltenham and the Grand National on the horizon 2010 could prove to be his crowning year.
Entering Tricky trickster will be a big decision for Nicholls. Weighing up all the pro's and con's he may come to the conclusion that for a horse that has only run in six chases and at his young age he may be better holding off until next year. But Tricky Trickster has already shown huge promise with three wins and three second places, proving himself to be an excellent jumper with staying power and pace, and netting earnings of over £60,000. We will have to wait for another three weeks before the first declarations have been made for the 2010 Grand National at which point we will know for sure if Paul Nicholls is taking a punt on Tricky Trickster. Until then it's all speculation.
For all of the Grand National 2010 runners who are taking part in the Grand National just check out our website, in particular the section on Grand National Runners which includes information such as the paired jockeys, handicapped weights, trainers, form and the latest odds available for the big race.
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