Resolve Secures National Spot Leading candidate Strong Resolve will definitely face the starter in Saturday´s John Smith´s Grand National following today´s announcement of the elimination sequence for the big race. The Lucinda Russell-trained nine-year-old was 41st on the list, with 40 allowed to run, when the five-day declarations were released yesterday. But as one of 10 horses on the same weight, with nine of them guaranteed a run, his fate depended on handicapper Phil Smith´s new ratings. Any eliminations concerning horses on the same weight are determined by official ratings in operation at Thursday´s 48-hour declaration stage. Smith´s new figures reveal he rates Strong Resolve higher than nearly all the horses on the same weight, so he gets a run. The unlucky 41st horse is now the Peter Beaumont-trained Hunters Tweed, who will need one horse to be withdrawn in order to get in. Another of the fancied horses, Longshanks, needs seven to come out in order to run.
