Hemmings' quest for a fourth National means Aintree encore is aim for the Smiths

We live in an age of uncertainty, in racing as in life, and while Sue Smith hasn't yet been asked to sort out the Northern Ireland backstop arrangement, she has the vagaries of equine flu and the West Yorkshire climate to contend with as she plots a course for 40 unpredictable animals into the notoriously fickle British spring.

How heartening then, for a trainer to have at least one horse for whom there are no ifs or buts; one owner whose preferences are so ingrained that the programme book can be dispensed with and a final destination inked into the schedule well in advance.

In Trevor Hemmings, Sussex-born Smith has just that: a man whose love for the Randox Health Grand National is so much public knowledge that a good staying chaser running in his name, with oodles of stamina and a sufficiency of speed, is nailed on to be carrying those famous green, yellow and white silks over 30 of Aintree's big spruce fences as soon as it reaches a certain age. In Vintage Clouds she has the horse that fits precisely the bill.