Smith has just the right type to land her second Grand National

IT’S a strange Randox Health Grand National market this year as the betting seems to be largely dominated by horses who have either run badly on their latest starts or, in the case of Blaklion, had a desperately hard race.

Blaklion went off just 9-4 favourite for the Grand National Trial at Haydock in February, and arguably ran better than his 54-length defeat would suggest, but in finishing second to Yala Enki he was absolutely legless and he’ll have to have some resolution to bounce back from that.

He is obviously very much an Aintree horse, having dotted up in the Becher Chase and finished fourth in the National last year, but on Racing Post figures he goes into the big one off his worst ever performance over fences and his highest ever mark as a chaser. I think I can leave him alone at 12-1.

Total Recall is next in the market having fallen three out in the Gold Cup and it would probably be a bit harsh to say he ran poorly as he was still in some sort of contention, although he had clouted the final ditch and had to be ridden to retain his pitch just before falling. It can hardly be considered an ideal preparation for the National, though.

I just don’t get the impression Cross Country third The Last Samuri is well enough handicapped and neither Minella Rocco nor Cause Of Causes have run well enough this season.

It’s possible to forgive Cause Of Causes as he was hampered at a relatively early stage at Cheltenham, but he never seemed to be travelling before or afterwards and there must be a chance he’s not in the right shape for the race this year.

The opposite can be said of Cross Country winner Tiger Roll and I wouldn’t blame anyone for taking the 20-1 as he is pretty much sure to end up favourite if Gordon Elliott gives him the go-ahead.

He was all the talk before the Cross Country this year but ended up going off at 7-1 simply because the ground was so soft and in a normal year it would be more to his liking at Aintree.

That said, my two against the field at this stage are on offer at much bigger prices and they start with I Just Know for Sue Smith, who won the race with Auroras Encore in 2013.

It’s possible this is a year too soon for the eight-year-old, but two of the last three winners were the same age and I thought I Just Know had Aintree written all over him when he stormed away with the North Yorkshire Grand National at Catterick in November.

There’s no pretending that was a great race, but I Just Know was never in any danger and once again the feature of his performance was sure-footed jumping from the front, which will surely stand him in good stead.

There’s no doubt he is going to have to improve again to defy a stone higher mark in the hardest race of all, but I think it’s obvious Smith is quite keen to have a crack with him this year as he warmed up on Saturday in a novice hurdle at Uttoxeter, thus ensuring he did not have much of a race.

He was a beaten 6-4 favourite that day, but he set a very steady gallop and was simply done for a bit of pace close home. It was still his best performance over hurdles by a country mile and will have put him spot on for Aintree next month.

He was third last season in a novice handicap chase at the Scottish National meeting that Auroras Encore won, albeit three years before his National success and, sitting 34th on the list at the moment with 10st 7lb next to his name, he looks sure to be carrying a lovely weight. I can’t let him go unbacked at 50-1.

The other one who interests me is Seeyouatmidnight, who has what many consider to be the all-important ‘National form’ having finished third to Vicente in the Scottish version in 2016.

That was off a mark of 149, which he’s still on now, and while he has been very lightly raced since there’s no doubt he has a bit of class as he laughed at Bristol De Mai in a match at the start of last season.

Things obviously went pear-shaped after that as he was never travelling and pulled up when 4-1 for the Betfair Chase won by Cue Card 19 days later and has only run in one hurdles race since, finishing second at Kelso last March.

Sandy Thomson has had a frustrating time trying to get him qualified as you need to have run in a chase this season to be eligible and so far his two previous engagements have been at abandoned meetings.

However, he’s likely to run at Newbury on Saturday and is also in a veterans’ chase at Ascot on Sunday and there’s next to no chance of both being off given the forecast.

However he runs this week, he has to be of interest off a very fair mark at around 33-1.

Read Paul Kealy every week in the Racing Post Weekender