Big Fella Thanks was always an ante-post favourite with the bookies for the 2010 Grand National but after his winning performance today at Newbury, in the Raymond Mould Supporting Greatwood Gold Cup Handicap Chase, where he romped home, he has now trumped Tricky Trickster with Paddy Power to become the 8/1 horse to beat on April 10th.

Speculation has been rife as to whether or not Paul Nicholls can finally win a Grand National and his hopes seem to have originally been pinned on Tricky Trickster but this afternoon, stable mate Big Fella Thanks proved his weight in gold when he pipped another stable mate, Pasco with Ruby Walsh, to the winning post with Barry Geraghty on board.

Walsh had looked very comfortable and confident on Pasco but not as much as Geraghty on Big Fella Thanks, who started the race 8/1 odds, as he shot passed and took a narrow lead after Pasco pecked on landing after the third last.

This win was considered a warm-up for Big Fella Thanks and even Nicholls was surprised that he had won having admitted after the race that he had expected Pasco to bring home the win. He has since confirmed that both horses will be going to Aintree – BFT in the National and Pasco in the Topham.

With Nicholls now sitting on the first and second ante-post favourites for the Grand National it would appear that almost nothing can stop his current winning streak but the Grand National is a notoriously difficult race and anything can, and usually does, happen on the day!

It seems that lately, Paul Nicholls can do no wrong when it comes to training high profile winners and he’s odds on favourite to be be top trainer for Cheltenham in a couple of weeks with notable runners such as Tricky Trickster, Denman and Kauto Star all under his guidance.

His challenge for the Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup, which started off being six strong with Denman, Kauto Star, My Will, Taranis, Tricky Trickster and What a Friend has been reduced to five after it emerged on Wednesday that Taranis had met with a setback, and will miss the Festival.

Although he was never considered the favourite and realistically had an uphill battle if he was to make an impact with other contenders such as Cooldine and Imperial Commander still in the running as well as the epic battle between Denman and Kauto Star, he was generally about fifth favourite with the bookies on about 20/1 with most of them.

Despite his successful comeback from serious injury in the Argento Chase at Cheltenham last month he was taken out of the Gold Cup and Grand National entries after an ultra-sound scan revealed he had suffered a fracture of a bony muscle attached to the femur, just below the hip.

This, of course, also rules him out of the 2010 Grand National where hopes were high for him and as it stands, Nicholls is just hoping that he can get him back on track for next season.