Planet’s sound claims at 33-1

Up The Ante at the Grand National
WITHOUT a doubt, the whole complexion of the Grand National has changed over the years.

Once you needed a magnificent jumper simply to negotiate the huge fences.

Then they changed the obstacles to make them less dangerous, which brought in a whole new breed of contenders – jumpers who could get away with mistakes Aintree would never have forgiven.

The problem with that scenario was that races were run at such speed that only those horses below the 11 stones mark had any hope of surviving such a lung-bursting test.

Top-quality performers did not have a hope, so senior handicapper Phil Smith had to do something to redress that balance. He has done just that, but he may have gone too far.

The last three winners have carried 11 stones (twice) and 11-5 after years of domination by the 10-stone somethings. And that trend is likely to continue as Smith and Aintree look to encourage the participation of the very best steeplechasers from Britain and Ireland.

The popular term is a “compression” of the weights. This means the better horses have to give less weight to the inferior ones - certainly fewer pounds than they would have to do in a normal handicap.

Whether you consider this a good or bad thing is up to you as a spectator and a punter, but it certainly has meant a shift in emphasis for pundits like myself in their search for the winner.

Where once I would have ruled out a whole section of horses burdened with 11-1 or more, now I have to afford the “quality” performers the utmost respect.

So, in examining the weights for this year’s John Smith’s Grand National on April 14, I have tried to identify a couple of horses with different qualities in order to keep our bases covered.

The first is a class performer, one possessing the ability to run in top-class races but reasonably handicapped nonetheless.

That horse is Planet Of Sound, who ran a blinder to chase home a rejuvenated Carruthers in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. He has not run since, but that is by design as he appreciates good ground and is at his best in the spring. Planet Of Sound is set to carry 11-5 at Aintree, the same weight as Don’t Push It carted to victory in 2010.

A sound jumper and great traveller, this horse is much classier and has a major chance if adapting to Aintree. He simply has to be backed each-way at 33-1.

My other advice is for West End Rocker, who handled the fences with aplomb when running away with the Becher Chase in the autumn.

Admittedly, that race fell into his lap, but he could not have impressed more with his jumping and, although raised in the weights for that success, he has to go close if avoiding trouble in running.

There are many in with a chance, not least last year’s winner Ballabriggs, the “plotted” Junior, rising star Hold On Julio and top weight Synchronised. But my two against the field represent great value and I will be surprised if both are not in the shake-up at Aintree in April.