Every jockey wants to win the coveted Grand National title but Paddy Brennan appears to want it more than anybody else though apparently only after Richard Johnson who, according to Brennan “Deserves it more than anyone else”.

Born in County Galway in May 1981, Paddy Brennan is one of Ireland’s brightest prospects for the future and a self confessed winning addict. After winning the Conditional Champion Jockey title in the 2004/05 season, Brennan turned professional and his first season started off very well when he got 60 winners under his belt. He has been improving ever since and broke the 100 winner mark in his 2007/08 season.

He is now a stable jockey for champion trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies and is in the Top 10 Jockeys in the UK. His Big Race wins include the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2007 on Inglis Drever, the Ryanair Chase in March 2009 on Imperial Commander and the Coral Scottish Grand National Handicap Chase in April 2009 on Hello Bud.

According to Brennan, his greatest hero is A.P. McCoy and it was McCoy who sorted him a job in England with Paul Nicholls, but a combination of the wrong attitude, a broken leg and 6 months recovery meant a re-evaluation of his career, more time with Philip Hobbs and a brief stint with Howard Johnson before meeting with Graham Wylie, who still sponsors him now.

He is now in his third season at Naunton with Twiston-Davies and rode in the Grand National for him in both 2009 on Knowhere and Fundamentalist in 2008.

One thing is for sure, Brennan wants to be the best, and judging by the way he learns from his mistakes, and the way he is continually improving we are sure he one day will be!

With the 2010 Grand National just around the corner a lot of the potential contenders will be getting run outs over the next few weeks as trainers and owners try to decide whether they will enter their charges into the big race.

With first declarations expected at the beginning of February there’s going to be a flurry of activity on the run-up not least of which is the Totesport.com Classic Chase which takes place at Warwick on Saturday 16th January.

2009 Grand National winner Mon Mome will be headlining the card that also includes exciting novice chasers Punchestowns and Weird Al. There are currently 13 entries for the £70,000 Totesport.com Classic Chase which will be run over 3m5f. Venetia Williams’ charge is also joined by Cornish Sett, who has completed the course on both attempts over the Grand National fences, and former Cheltenham Festival winner Nenuphar Collonges.

Nigel Twiston-Davies holds three entries, with Topham Chase winner Irish Raptor and Jaunty Journey joined by triple Grade 2 winner Knowhere.

The race card is shaping up to look like this…

1 5P0-FF Cleni Boy 8 John Daniel Moore
2 80-PC8 Cornish Sett 11 P F Nicholls
3 092453 Double Dizzy 9 R H Buckler
4 1P20-5 Gypsy George 9 T D Walford
5 01-4U5 Irish Raptor 11 N A Twiston-Davies
6 33-12U Jaunty Journey 7 N A Twiston-Davies
7 P-3PP4 Knowhere 12 N A Twiston-Davies
8 36-721 L´Aventure 11 Nick Williams
9 24-512 Lorum Leader 9 Dr R D P Newland
10 422-31 Mark The Book 9 P J Hobbs
11 781-P3 Mon Mome 10 Miss Venetia Williams
12 /4-731 Mr Strachan 9 Mrs S J Smith
13 63-469 Nenuphar Collonges 9 A King

Seven year old Arbor Supreme is a progressive Irish handicapper who had three wins in 2008 and had a fairly great season in 2009 also. He began to show huge promise when he came first in his consecutive race entries, the Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa Handicap Chase at Punchestown in April 2008 followed by the Porterstown Handicap Chase at Fairyhouse in November.

His solid form including a good third place at Down Royal in March, where he travelled well on soft ground over 3m 2f, demonstrated to all that he is a game stayer. This achievement provided him with odds of 12-1 for the Irish Grand National Chase, where he was up against several top horses. He only managed to come a disappointing 14th, but made up for it when he came third in the Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase at the Punchestown Festival in May, to Ambobo and Vic Venturi, when ridden by Ruby Walsh.

Owned by JP McManus and trained by Willie Mullins, it comes as no surprise that Arbor Supreme is a likely candidate for the 2010 Grand National at Aintree with antepost odds of 25/1 on Paddy Power and 30/1 on Betfair. He has won over distances in Ireland in particular, so his stamina is not questionable, and he might not be the best on firm ground, but he has proved himself to be well capable on good and soft ground. He is definitely considered to be an improving young stayer who could become one of Ireland’s high hopes for Grand National glory in April 2010.

Butler’s Cabin has been around for a few years and in 2009 was the odds on favourite to take the Aintree Grand National despite his fall at fence 22 in 2008. His short odds though could have something to do with the fact that AP McCoy was riding him and had previously ridden him to victory at the 2007 Irish Grand National, at Fairyhouse when at 14/1 he beat Nine de Sivola by one length. At the time McCoy stated that any horse that can win over four miles at the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham and then win an Irish National within the space of three weeks is obviously very special.

In hindsight Butlers Cabin faced a difficult task as the handicapper had assessed him on his Grand National form and given him a rating of 147 whereas his rating outside of the Grand National had fallen to 135 and he was still failing to make the frame. Butlers Cabin had ran off 147 in the 2008 Grand National and appeared to be going ominously well behind the leaders when falling at Bechers on the second circuit. The official handicapper was obviously convinced that Jonjo O’Neils nine year old was going to be involved in the finish that day and acted accordingly when allocating his weight for 2009.

Trained by Jonjo O’Neill in Gloucestershire, this year Butlers Cabin is already in the antepost odds for the Grand National and odds vary wildly depending on where you go. Paddy Power has him at 33/1 while Betfair have him at 130/1 so if you really fancy him this could be the place to go to back him! He has the stamina required to win, but it remains to be seen whether AP McCoy will choose him this year as his mount and whether he still has what it takes to win a race as challenging as the National. It has been speculated that the handicapper needs to take a softer line with Butlers Cabin, as he seems to have previously assessed him on his Grand National form, and not his more recent fruitless appearances.

However, before getting too excited about the possibility of him winning in 2010, take into consideration that he may even retire before then. Animal Aid has warned Jonjo O’Neill that he and Butler’s Cabin’s owner could face prosecution should the horse require medical treatment immediately after any future race. The Grand National is grueling so it may be that they decide to cut their losses and enter another promising horse in his place.

Ante-post odds for the 2010 Grand National are now available via Paddy Power and Betfair!