hyland, langer dan, as james owen said, another stab to the national's heart & this is why.

​When the weights for the Aintree National were published back in February, after first nominating four other horses, including the current favourite, Intense Raffles, out of the ether, the name Hyland came to me. I called it at the time ‘instinctive’, though on reflection I believe it was more a case of my brain subconsciously sifting whatever knowledge lies dormant in there and coming to the conclusion, which I now agree upon, that Hyland is well handicapped and a horse with the ability to jump well, though at Kempton last time his jumping was less reliable, and who would most likely appreciate the longer distance. He was 50/1 at the time, while now I have seen him listed at 16/1, though 25/1 is more generally available. So, whoever has been backing him please stop as I have lost all the value there was to be had. He was my choice and I must warn you that jumping on my bandwagon has proved expensive for people in the past.
With L’Homme Presse now a non-runner, my current four for the race are Hyland, Intense Raffles, Bravemansgame and Hewick. The first and the last on the list are in need of goodish ground, which seemingly they will get.

It is sad that Langer Dan has been retired as he was such an endearing character. I would imagine the unreliability of his form over the past years was caused by the heart condition that has now been diagnosed. Let us hope he enjoys a long and happy retirement.

As James Owen said, quoting him from today’s Racing Post, the Triumph should be 2-miles 1-furlong, not 2-miles 2-furlongs, the distance the race became this year when the starter began the race with the runners a furlong from the tapes. He believes, and with both good reason and the evidence of the short distance East India Dock was beaten, that if the race had started from the starting tape, as it should be, his horse would more than likely have won.
If a race starts before the advertised start-time, it can be declared void. Yet no such provision is in the rules for when a race is run at a distance in variance to the advertised distance.

Mr. Kevin Walsh of Louth, Lincolnshire, in a letter to the Racing Post today, wishes to have the Aintree National restricted to horses ten and under. Imagine if that was the rule in 1977. We would not have had a three-time winner of the race and the legend that is Red Rum would be nothing more that that of a two-time winner of the race that I can without hesitation refer to as the Grand National.
If this suggestion were to be invoked next season it would deny such a horse as Galopin Des Champs from running in the race or I Am Maximus if he should do the double this year. 
It is a stupid suggestion and doubtless Aintree will give it consideration. It is yet another stab in the side of a once formidable and historic horse race.

To remain with the theme of the race formerly known as, at least by me, as the Grand National, which I now call the Aintree National, there is a wonderful book written by Chris Pitt ‘Go Down To The Beaten’, tales of the Grand National, in which the plucky defeated and noble attempts are given the limelight of publication. It could not be written in this day and age as the romance and derring-do has been removed from the race by those wishing only to protect the cash-cow that the race has become.
From this wonderful book I have cherry-picked the exploits of Just So, trained by three-horse trainer Henry Cole, though at the time I believe he had his home-bred mare, and Just So’s sister, Dubacilla in training with David Nicholson, and ridden by West Country journeyman jockey Simon Burroughs.
As with the plunge on Hyland this year, I had originally picked out Just So as a possible, as long as the ground was soft. He was 100/1 at the time. It had rained, snowed and sleeted in the run-up to the race and on the morning of the race, with punters realising that very few of the runners were going to appreciate ground conditions, Just So was backed, no doubt with small money bets, down to 20/1 at the off.
Just So was nicknamed Just Slow but he was a reliable jumper and as long as the pace suited him, he would gallop all-day. There was quite possibly not a race in the calendar for him, given that 4-miles was his bare minimum. Paul Nicholls had him for a while, finishing 2nd four-times in five-runs, including the Eider Chase.
In the 1994 Grand National, trained by his owner-breeder, he was beaten only 1 and a ¼-lengths by Miinnehoma and Richard Dunwoody, and had even led the field at Valentines, surprising even Dunwoody who asked Burroughs ‘What are you doing here?’ no doubt surprised as anyone that Just So should be leading a race so far from the finish.
The above is an example of why I hate what has been done to the National run at Aintree. It is highly unlikely that a three-horse stable will ever compete in the race again or that a journeyman jockey such as Simon Burrough will get so close to winning the race or that an ordinary handicapper like Just So will achieve such a brush with racing history.
In protecting their cash-cow, Aintree trampled over what the race has always stood for, romance, bravery, the little man given an equal chance against his or her betters, the unpredictable as likely as the predictable. I doubt if Ginger McCain sleeps easy in his coffin spiritually knowing that lesser horses of lesser achievement will be mentioned as attempting to achieve what Red Rum gloriously achieved.