Liam Treadwell won the John Smith Grand National Steeple Chase during day three of the John Smiths Grand National Meeting at Aintree in Liverpool on the 4th April 2009, riding Mon Mome. It was a definite tale of triumph as he steered Mon Mome, which means ‘My kid’, to victory at odds of 100 to 1, the biggest priced winner in the 7,200 metre race. The race was watched by the 70,130 strong Aintree crowd, but few of them had backed Mon Mome, a nine year old who finished 10th in 2008.

Liam had spent seven years trying to make a breakthrough as a jockey, first on the flats and then over jumps. Treadwell, 23, who himself admits that he had ‘never even had a sniff of a ride round the big fences before’, rode round like Aintree like a true professional.

Treadwell’s father has been a work-rider and stablehand at John Dunlop’s Arundel yard for 20 years, while his mother still works there part-time. Treadwell began his career by riding point-to-pointers for Nick Gifford but at 8 stone was too light so became an apprentice on the Flat for Amanda Perett and Dandy Nicholls. He became too heavy, and says that he always knew in the long-term that he was going to end up jumping. It was a call out of the blue from Gifford asking him to ride his horses in 2008 that revitalised his career.

Where winning the National will take Treadwell is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain, Treadwell is not just a flash in the pan as he won the United House Gold Cup at Ascot at the end of October on The Last Derby, at odds of 33-1. The five year old was trainer Eoin Griffin’s second runner, but Treadwell won the race by five lengths, proving too strong for Aimigayle and Shining Gale.

Despite tremendous success in the 2009 Grand National, can he really do it again in 2010? Winning this prestigious race is often a one off moment of glory for so many jockeys and those that have won it twice or more are rare to say the least but interesting ly enough, he will probably have a wider choice of picks this year, capitalising on his winning form, which means that he could be in for a very good ride so don’t write him off just yet…

Though I don’t know who Treadwell is riding you can still put a few quid on the ante post horses at Paddy Power.

We are nowhere near finalising the final 40 horses that will line up for the 2010 Aintree Grand National but so much buzz already surrounds the entrants that we decided to take a closer look at Tricky Trickster, one of the ante-post favourites.

Tricky Trickster is the Irish 6 year old horse currently being trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies. Though his career to date is limited, he has been extremely successful with three wins from six starts as well as three second place finishes netting earnings of over £60,000. So on paper he’s looking like a great prospect for the Grand National but if all it took were youth and speed to win this race then we would probably have seen a lot more upsets over the last few years.

Age – generally we recommend horses who are 9 or 10 years old, possibly 8 if the horse is a real winner but never 7 or younger so on that basis Tricky Trickster may struggle as he will still only be six years old.

Stamina – it is rare to find very young horses running long distances and we always suggest that you back a horse with some history or running and completing a course similar in length to Aintree. Fortunately, Tricky Trickster has done this when he entered and won the 4m National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup at Cheltenham in March 09, proving he has the legs to go the distance.

Weight – I should mention that when winning at Cheltenham he carried a ferocious 11-11 which would be very very high if he were to be lumbered with that when the weights come out in Feb 2010. Ordinarily I would only recommend backing a horse carrying absolutely no more than 11-03 on the day.

Season – on the run-up to the Grand National, check out his form on the hurdles as opposed to the Chase events. If his trainer really does consider him a serious contender then he’ll probably reduce his steeple chase appearances in favour of smaller hurdle events in Ireland and England, thereby protecting his marks which should, in theory, get him a lower Grand National weight.

It really is too early to say whether or not Tricky trickster can win the 2010 Grand National, in fact, I can’t even be certain that he’s even going to be entered into the race as a lot can happen between now and then. I personally think he’s too young and with 39 other competitors lining up alongside him, he may lose his way in the crowd. Follow his progress, check the experience of the jockey, look at his weight and study his form and then when all else fails cross your fingers, because luck is as much a part of this race as anything else!

For Ante-Post odds on Tricky Trickster, check out Paddy Power and don’t forget your free bet!