Cloudy Among 99 Left In National Cloudy Lane, ante-post favourite for the John Smith´s Grand National, features among a list of 99 horses still engaged in Saturday´s race at the five-day stage. Other prominent fancies Comply Or Die, Slim Pickings and Simon all stood their ground for the four-and-a-half-miler as a total of 16 defected. Of those now set to miss out, Patsy Hall, Over The Creek and Ungaro are arguably the most notable, along with Irish National runner-up Royal County Star and the Paul Nicholls-trained Royal Auclair. Billyvoddan, Knight Legend, Always Waining, Homer Wells, Ursumman, Cool Running, Oscar India, Final Act, Juful Tennis, Patman Du Charmil and the ill-fated Alexander Taipan have also been taken out. Donald McCain could not be happier with Cloudy Lane as his date with destiny swiftly approaches. "He´s come out of his last race well. He had a little quiet spell but he´s been back in fast work a while now and he´s in really good order," said the trainer. "He´s in great nick and a bit of sun has made a great difference to all the horses and he´s certainly appreciated it. "His form has surprised me a little bit. We always thought he was a good horse but he has just kept on improving. "He´s gone up the handicap now to a mark where he is going to have to take on the best next season." Cloudy Lane landed a hat-trick when winning the Grimthorpe Chase at Doncaster, in which National rival Mr Pointment disappointed. "At Doncaster Mr Pointment didn´t run his race but he could do no more than win, he was pulling away at the line without being asked a serious question," McCain told At The Races. "For him to be the first horse Mr Hemmings has sent me he has been unbelievable. He won a bumper, the Red Square Final at Haydock over hurdles and he won at Cheltenham last year. "Everything we have thrown at him he has done but he faces his biggest task now. "When he won at Cheltenham I started to think about the National, if you can win there you know you have a serious horse. "We´ve got as much practice in as we can, we´ve taken him to some of the biggest tracks in the country but you never know if they are going to take to the fences until they are over the first. "He handles most ground and Aintree tend to aim for the slow side of good, which would be perfect. "The only thing that would worry me was if it came up like a Red Marauder Grand National, getting home would be a big problem." Alan King is keen on letting D´Argent, owned by his Barbury Castle landlord, Nigel Bunter, take his chance. The 11-year-old will be trying to end the well-documented losing run for grey horses in the race, which stretches back to Nicolaus Silver in 1961. "Let?s hope he takes to it and Choc (Robert Thornton) gets a good ride," said King. "If he´s happy jumping the first two or three, he could be in for a great ride, but until we get there I wouldn´t know. "We felt it was this year or never with him as he could be too old in 12 months. "I´m very relaxed about the ground - it shouldn´t matter too much which way it goes." Paddy Power bet: 11-2 Cloudy Lane, 10-1 Comply Or Die, Slim Pickings, 12-1 Simon, 14-1 Bewleys Berry, Chelsea Harbour, Snowy Morning, 16-1 Butler´s Cabin, King Johns Castle, McKelvey, Mr Pointment, 20-1 Point Barrow, 25-1 Bar. Totesport bet: 5-1 Cloudy Lane, 9-1 Slim Pickings, 11-1 Comply Or Die, 12-1 Simon, 14-1 Bewleys Berry, Butler´s Cabin, 16-1 Chelsea Harbour, Kings John Castle, Snowy Morning, 18-1 Mr Pointment, 20-1 Hedgehunter, Point Barrow, 22-1 McKelvey, 25-1 Bar (C) PA Sport Johns Castle has yet to win over a distance in excess of two miles and three furlongs, but Moore is not unduly concerned about his stamina and hopes the prediction of good ground proves accurate. "I don´t want extremes of ground really. He stayed on well over three miles in the Pierse Chase at Leopardstown," he added. "I wouldn´t say it´s been an ambition of mine to win the race, but it would be very nice to do so." Paddy Power rate King Johns Castle a 16-1 chance, with Cloudy Lane their solid 11-2 favourite. John Smith´s Grand National Paddy Power bet: 11-2 Cloudy Lane, 10-1 Comply Or Die, Slim Pickings, 12-1 Simon, 14-1 Bewleys Berry, Chelsea Harbour, Snowy Morning, 16-1 Butler´s Cabin, King Johns Castle, McKelvey, Mr Pointment, 20-1 Point Barrow, 25-1 Bar. Totesport bet: 5-1 Cloudy Lane, 9-1 Slim Pickings, 11-1 Comply Or Die, 12-1 Simon, 14-1 Bewleys Berry, Butler´s Cabin, 16-1 Chelsea Harbour, Kings John Castle, Snowy Morning, 18-1 Mr Pointment, 20-1 Hedgehunter, Point Barrow, 22-1 McKelvey, 25-1 Bar (C) PA Sport
