Club heads strong raiding party

The Midnight Club leads another strong Irish challenge for today's John Smith's Grand National, hoping to add to a terrific record in recent years which has seen six of the last 12 winners coming from these shores.

The 10-year-old bids to follow in the hoofprints of former stablemate Hedgehunter, who won Fairyhouse's Bobbyjo Chase en-route to Aintree in 2005.

He represents the formidable team of Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh and both are hopeful he can make a bold bid for victory in the famous race.

Mullins said: "He's a horse we thought could be an Aintree horse for a long time and his whole year has been geared towards the National."

Walsh, rider of Hedgehunter and also Papillon in 2000, is hoping he has picked the right one from a number of options.

Walsh said: "I've had my eye on him for the National for a long time. You'd like him to have a bit more experience than he has but there's nothing we can do about that.

"I'm not riding class horses like What A Friend, a Grade One winner, and Niche Market, who's been aimed at the race all year and it's not an easy decision but you can only ride one. I hope I'm right, but what will be will be."

Trainer Gordon Elliott made a storming start to his career when Silver Birch won the 2007 renewal and will be hoping for a repeat with Backstage.

"Backstage is bombing, but it's the Grand National so you do need a lot of luck," said Elliott.

"If he jumps well and gets a clear round you never know. He was travelling well when he unseated last year and we decided point-to-pointing was the right route to take.

"It's all about him winning and giving him confidence as well as keeping his mark at what it was."

Dermot Weld has not had too many runners in the National, but he did send out Greasepaint to be second in successive years in the 1980s.

This year he is represented by Majestic Concorde, who was last seen landing the ultra-competitive Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.

"I'm hopeful (he will take to Aintree). You just don't know, he's a very good horse he loves to jump and he put up a super performance at Leopardstown," said the Rosewell House handler.

"If he gets luck in running, the ground is drying out, he's entitled to take his chance.

"Greasepaint was second for us in the Grand National and Ebony Jane was 12th under Adrian Maguire many moons ago.

"You want an awful lot of luck in the race, the main thing is he gets round safely.

"He's a very talented horse - he's still rated 100 on the Flat, he rana great race in the Chester Cup last year and he's the class horse in the race if things went his way. Luck is the most important thing of all.

"They (the Curragh) kindly made a couple of Aintree fences for us and he jumped those and jumped them very fluently and very well. Once I saw that, I was happy to let him take his chance.

"I'm just worried about anything happening to him. Both myself and Dr Lambe (owner) gave a lot of consideration to that, we discussed it in great detail before we gave the green light but never venture, never win.

"He's a good horse, the ground is coming right, he jumped those Aintree fences we built at home very well and we're hopeful," he told At The Races.

Sam Waley-Cohen will bid to become the first amateur jockey to ride the winner of the National in over 20 years when he partners Oscar Time.

Should he do it, Waley-Cohen's feat will be even more extraordinary as he has already won the Gold Cup this season on Long Run, owned by his father, Robert.

The Martin Lynch-trained Oscar Time, also running in the colours of his father, has solid credentials, finishing second in last year's Irish Grand National and third last time out to National favourite The Midnight Club.

Waley-Cohen said: "It's been a pretty extraordinary few months and something just to enjoy and relish.

"The Gold Cup seems to have touched a few people, who have written to me saying how much they enjoyed it. There was a wave of goodwill.

"Coming into a race like this, you just want to enjoy it, especially when you are on a horse that you believe in.

"To me you want a horse that can be ultra-consistent and hasn't got a string of pulled-ups and falls in its history.

"You also want a horse that can travel and jump with real enthusiasm in a big field and he showed that in the Irish National and the Paddy Power.

"I've ridden him three times this season and everyone connected with the horse feels that he is now in the form of his life coming into this race.

"He has all the right attributes to be a Grand National horse and, perhaps most significantly, he has a whole load of courage, which often makes all the difference in a contest like this.

"His whole season has been about his preparation for here. We were delighted with how he ran in the Bobbyjo, he showed he was exuberant and very genuine, everything we wanted."

The National is famed for its fairytale outcomes and the Oscar Time story fits the bill on a number of fronts.

Waley-Cohen said: "It's a man and horse story with Martin and Oscar Time. He only has 10 or 11 horses and bought him as an unbroken store and has all but slept in the same box for the last five years. He's absolutely his pride and joy."

Robert Waley-Cohen said: "It's hugely exciting and he's got a proper chance, but the National is a handicap and there are at least 10 who think their chance is every bit as good as ours.

"He's an extremely nice horse who jumps very well. I think he's entitled to be there and, with luck, he should run very well.

"You're taking a bit of a gamble he'll take to the course. Some do and some hate it. You are also guessing about the trip, but we're hoping for a great run."