Time To Get Up now as short as 11-4 to make Midlands Grand National history

Last year's Midlands Grand National winner Time To Get Up is popular in the market and is as short as 11-4 in places to make it back-to-back wins in Saturday's feature contest (3.35) at Uttoxeter.

The Jonjo O'Neill-trained nine-year-old was a length winner from subsequent Scottish National hero Mighty Thunder in the 4m2f Listed handicap chase last year and while he has not won since, he returned to some sort of form when third in Haydock's Grand National Trial last month.

Time To Get Up will race off just a 4lb higher mark than when successful last year and he has been cut to 11-4 (from 7-2) with William Hill and a general 3-1 elsewhere to become the first horse to win the Midlands National twice.

In the same race, the Denis Hogan-trained Young Dev has been trimmed into a general 9-1 (from 11) to give Ireland a first victory in the race since Goonyella scored in 2015, while the Colin Tizzard-trained Paddleyourowncanoe has also been well-supported this morning and is now 11-1 (from 16).

One of the big drifters in the Midlands National has been last year's fourth Screaming Colours, who is now as big as 14-1 (from 10) despite finishing second in the Cork Grand National on his last start.

Saturday's cards and betting

Also on the card, Boothill has replaced Beauport as the 11-4 favourite (from 7-2) in the 2m4f handicap hurdle (3.00) to cap off Harry Fry's brilliant week following Love Envoi's Cheltenham Festival success.

At Kempton, the Evan Williams-trained Annsam has been backed into 8-1 (from 10) to bounce back from his Coral Trophy disappointment in the 2m5f handicap hurdle (2.40), while Killer Clown is now 5-1 (from 7) in the 2m4½f handicap chase (3.15).

Art Approval has also come in for support in the 2m5f handicap hurdle and is now a general 8-1 having been as big as 12-1 in the morning to give Fergal O'Brien some mild compensation having suffered two narrow defeats at the festival this week.

Market movers

Kempton

1.30 Certainly Red 7-2 (from 4)
2.40 Annsam 8-1 (from 10)
3.15 Killer Clown 6-1 (from 15-2), Art Approval 8-1 (from 12)

Uttoxeter

1.50 Illegal Model 7-1 (from 8)
2.25 Young Bull 9-2 (from 5)
3.00 Boothill 11-4 (from 7-2)
3.35 Time To Get Up 3-1 (from 7-2), Young Dev 9-1 (from 11), Paddleyourowncanoe 11-1 (from 16), Screaming Colours 14-1 (from 10)

Midlands Grand National to be run on soft ground after dry night

Soft ground will await the runners in the stamina-sapping Midlands Grand National after conditions at Uttoxeter remained dry overnight, with a bright and sunny day expected for the track's feature meeting of the year.

The going was eased on Wednesday following 12mm rainfall throughout the day, but no further rain has hit the Staffordshire track since and trainee clerk of the course Richard Fothergill is expecting ideal jumping conditions for the Boulton Group-backed contest.

He said: "We're soft. We had similar rain to Cheltenham but not as extreme as they got it on the Wednesday. We had 12mm but that's all we had. Otherwise it's been dry and bright and it should be similar later on."

'He has a right chance' - the lowdown on Uttoxeter's Midlands Grand National

A bumper crowd of 10,000 is expected for Uttoxeter's eight-race card, which begins at 1.10, with the Midlands Grand National one of four races from the track that will be broadcast on ITV's main channel.

Ireland will be hoping to follow on from Friday's Cheltenham Festival domination with four Irish-trained runners set to line up in the 4m2f Listed contest, headed by the Shark Hanlon-trained Hewick.

One Irish-trained runner who will not line up on the card is Freedom To Dream, having been withdrawn from the 2m4f handicap hurdle this morning following his fourth-place finish in the Martin Pipe yesterday.

Fothergill added: "It'll be a cracking day with some nice entries. It's really nice for us to be on ITV and we're hoping for around 10,000 spectators.

"We've got a few Irish-trained runners and it's really nice to have that bit of interest there as well."

Kempton also stages four races on ITV and the ground is good, good to soft in places at the track following a dry night.

Non-runners

Uttoxeter
1.50 5 Winningseverything (Self Cert)
3.00 6 Freedom To Dream (Self Cert)
3.35 8 Jersey Bean (Self Cert)
4.45 3 Twotwothree (Going)

Kempton
2.05 4 Caddyhill (Vets Cert)
4.25 5 Chavez (Self Cert)

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