Lulamba one of a number of significant absentees at Aintree All 34 declared runners stand their ground in the Randox Grand National at 4pm this afternoon but the drying ground has resulted in many significant non-runners throughout the remainder of the card. Lulamba was set to go off at odds-on in the Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (1.55) but the Triumph Hurdle runner-up is one of three taken out of this Grade 1 event. There are five absentees in the opening William Hill Top Price Guarantee Handicap Hurdle at 1.20 including Jeriko Du Reponet. The field for the William Hill Handicap Chase (2.30) has been reduced to just 12 with Myretown another favourite taken out while El Cairos is also a fancied runner missing from the bumper. The going is Good on the Mildmay course and Good to Soft on the National course, while another dry and sunny day is forecast with temperatures reaching about 15C.
