Back in the 2009 Grand National, the French bred gelding My Will, owned by the Stewart family, started the race at 8/1 and joint second favourite and, to be fair, he did very well coming in a respectable third place after Mon Mome and Comply or Die.

But why was he so heavily backed and favoured for this race given that most French bred horses do not excel at the Grand National? The reasons are very clear – following a nineteen month break he returned to the horse racing calendar in November of 2008 where he took fifth place in the Hennessey Gold Cup and he then went on to claim a credible fifth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, where he truly belied his 100/1 starting price. He is a consistent runner, who runs well on good to firm ground, and he had run well on the Melling course, displaying his ability to act on flat left-handed track.

At nine years old, prior to the 2009 National he had placed in eighteen of his twenty seven chase starts and has fallen only once, so while the National fences are unforgiving, he was already set up well. He was also well handicapped for the 2009 National, and given a reasonably good weight at 11lbs 4.

If further proof of his potential to win the Grand National is needed then look no further than the fact that he is trained by Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls and jockey Ruby Walsh chose to ride him. While Ruby managed to achieve third place with My Will in the 2009 National, he admitted afterwards that four or five mistakes cost him valuable impetus.

He has run once since the 2009 Grand National (at the time of writing this) and did manage to come in second place after The Listener so he is getting some valuable run-outs under his belt. Only time will tell if he will be declared for the Grand National 2010 but if he is and Ruby decides to ride him again he could be one to look out for.

Check out Paddy Power for the latest ante-post odds on My Will.