The Grand National always delivers - and this year we're set for a cracker

Once again, thankfully and at last, the Grand National can live up to the description so often given it by Des Lynam.

"This is the day the nation goes racing," said the great man whenever he introduced coverage of the great race.

When Lynam used a phrase that has been reverentially adopted by Ed Chamberlin, he was referring to the many millions watching from home, the countless punters who turn to racing just once a year, drawn to the sport by the magical magnet of Becher's Brook, 40 horses, thrills, spills and glorious uncertainty.