Confidence high for 'incredibly talented' Grand National gamble Snow Leopardess

Snow Leopardess, who became a mother before returning to race, is contesting favouritism for Saturday’s Randox Grand National after a gamble on the grey mare intensified on Monday.

The Becher Chase heroine, a 14-1 chance before the weekend, was on Monday night the new 7-1 favourite with both Sky Bet (from 9) and William Hill (from 8) after sustained support that saw her shorten in price compared to market rivals Any Second Now and Delta Work.

Snow Leopardess, who had a foal during a two-year break from racing, has returned to training with Charlie Longsdon at the peak of her powers and won all three starts this season, including the Becher Chase over the National fences in December.

The ten-year-old’s popularity with punters is no comparison to that of the Fox-Pitt family, who believe winning jump racing’s showpiece event would be “right up there” with their illustrious equestrian achievements.

That was the view of ITV’s Alice Plunkett, whose mother-in-law Marietta Fox-Pitt is right at the heart of Snow Leopardess’s remarkable story, with the star grey mare the fifth generation of their homebred family.

5.15 Aintree Saturday: Randox Grand National racecard and betting

The going eased to good to soft at Aintree on Monday – welcome news for connections – and Plunkett says victory in the big race would be “beyond words”.

Plunkett said: “As a family we've won Badminton, Burghley six times holding the record and been involved in five Olympic Games – we've been given amazing opportunities and experiences through horses, and if this could come off it would be right up there with the best.

Alice Plunkett (right): 'To watch her jump like she did in the Becher Chase was fantastic'Credit: Mark Cranham

"This is the fifth generation of the family for Marietta – it's been a life's work – so if she were to win it would just be beyond words.

"Everyone is confident she'll stay and we hope she has enough pace early on, which is probably the biggest worry. The more rain the better and Aidan [Coleman] has complete confidence in her.

"To watch her jump like she did in the Becher Chase – she's always had incredible scope – was fantastic. I was working at Sandown that day and completely let myself down – I turned into some sort of Gwyneth Paltrow on acid!”

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Several firms expect the market support to continue through the week and Snow Leopardess won’t be short of backing on course when it comes to Saturday.

Plunkett, who is married to Olympic eventer William Fox-Pitt, said: “It's getting very real and logistics are all in place – we're going to have 12 grandchildren there, all four of Marietta's kids and their other halves, so there's going to be a big old Fox-Pitt clan in support.

"We've had enough horses in our lives to know dreams very rarely come off but to have her in one piece and hopefully ready to line up for the biggest race of them all is just amazing.

Snow Leopardess: favourite for Saturday's Grand National with some firmsCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"She's like the horse version of my mother-in-law – she's phenomenally beautiful, incredibly talented, achieved every target she's set her mind to and having children didn't break her stride.

"She's very much part of the fabric and Charlie and his wife Sophie, along with her groom Jess, have done such a fantastic job with her. She's a tricky old mare and knows her mind – she's her own person but Jess lets her be that and she gets treated like a queen."

'It's been one-way traffic'

Snow Leopardess is “easily the worst result” for Sky Bet at this stage, with support for her since Thursday described as “one-way traffic”.

Sky Bet’s Michael Shinners said: “She’s easily our worst result at this stage. Since we went non-runner no bet at midday on Thursday, she has been very well supported. We’ve taken 4,000 more bets on her than any other horse – it’s been one-way traffic for her.

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“We thought it might be later on in the week that people latched on to her story, but she's already been very popular.

“As it stands, we’re keen to duck her and lay a few others in our book as it’s pretty lopsided at the moment. We’ve laid plenty on her and not much on anybody else.”

Delta Work was a 33-1 shot for the National before his Glenfarclas Chase success at Cheltenham and is the worst result for Ladbrokes, but the firm expects Snow Leopardess to be “the public horse”.

Ladbrokes’ Nicola McGeady said: “This year we think Snow Leopardess will be the public horse, ticking boxes such as being grey, a mare, having a good name and having a heartwarming tale to boot.

"Delta Work is the biggest ante-post mover and liability right now for us, but the Charlie Longsdon-trained co-favourite is expected to fly ahead in the popularity stakes come the day.”

Randox Grand National (5.15 Aintree Saturday)

Sky Bet: 7 Snow Leopardess, 8 Delta Work, Any Second Now, 11 Escaria Ten, Enjoy D'Allen, Eclair Surf, 12 Minella Times, 14 Fiddlerontheroof, 16 Longhouse Poet, 20 bar

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