Hello Bud is a real contender for the 2010 Aintree Grand National and one of the very big hopefuls from the Nigel Twiston-Davies stables but did his performance in the Beechers Chase seriously make a dent in his chances? I watched the race with great excitement – finally a big steeple chase at Aintree, something to separate the winners from the also-ran’s and Hello Bud was so hotly tipped before the race started that his 3/1 odds made him almost seem like a shoe in to take him to the winners circle but unfortunately his performance left a lot to be desired and made me re-think him as a potential Grand National winner.

Before the Beechers Chase, which, incidentally, is over three miles long so perfect for testing stamina, Paddy Brennan, the Twiston-Davies stable jockey, had his choice of either Hello Bud or Irish Raptor, both of which were using today’s run out as a Grand National test, and he he chose Hello Bud. Make no mistake, Paddy Brennan is on form so things looked good. An interview on the BBC with Nigel Twiston-Davies sealed the deal as his confidence in both of his horses was rock steady, so what happened?

A fall at the second for Irish Raptor gave Hello Bud the lead and from there he more or less controlled the race from the front. Other than a minor jumping error at the eight fence Paddy Brennan was looking good and Hello Bud continued to cleanly jump each and every one of the 21 fences. His nearest competitor, Palypso De Creek had shrunk back towards the back of the remaining five horses so all that was left was the straight run home…

Oh if only things were that straight forward! It wasn’t so much that Hello Bud got beaten to the post, more that he completely tailed off. He just didn’t have it in him, the tank ran dry and he slipped into last position allowing Vic Venturi, the Dessie Hughes horse, to take it all the way home. Ordinarily I would think that a horse who couldn’t successfully hold on to a lead in a 3 miler would do much in the Grand National but in this case I’m reserving judgment because Hello Bud race an incredibly difficult race just one week ago so he does have a very valid reason for not pulling it out of the bag today.

I still think he’s a great little horse with very high hopes and if he’s sufficiently rested before his next race he could be a real contender.

Ante post odds are available for him at:

Paddy Power at 25/1
Betfair at 32/1
Ladbrokes at 33/1

Just remember that although Paddy Power has the lowest ante-post odds, they do pay out for the first FIVE places, if you’re considering an each-way bet.