Road To the Grand National 2012

I'm keen on Treacle as well, hopefully not put a jinx on him for you Simon.

If the horse who won the Kerry National a few years back turns up he could be the one to be on.
 
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I'm astounded they're actually considering sending Synchronised for the National. The way he jumps, there's no way he gets around.
 
I thought Killyglen was going well enough last year. He had a few horses around him having been a clear second but he wasn't back peddling.
 
I hope they do run Synchronised to be honest. It will add a lot of intrigue to the race, particularly if he manages to win it.

My biggest concern would actually be the hard race he had in the GC rather than his jumping; he's never fallen over fences although he can skew over a few I'll admit!
 
Jonjo won a Gold Cup on Alverton 79 who got killed at Aintree Bechers second time "when cantering".Davy Lad fell in 77. Of the more recent Gold Cup winners to go to Aintree Synchronised seems to be this type rather than the Garrison Savvanah type. Mind you if Pricewise selects him again....
 
Aragorn said:
I hope they do run Synchronised to be honest. It will add a lot of intrigue to the race, particularly if he manages to win it.
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Intrigue is one thing. We all like to see history created in our era, and while the idea of him running sounds nice, his jumping style will not be seen to best effect around Aintree.

He may not have fallen before, but Aintree fences are unlike anything he'll have faced to date. If he was pinging fences around Cheltenham with room for error then fair enough, but he wasn't by a long way, and he's a small horse. Just because he stays and has a touch of class about him, it won't make the Aintree fences any smaller.

The idea just seems crazy to me. I can only see one outcome. He simply won't get around. Then, God forbid the worst case scenario happens and we lose the horse!?! The Gold Cup winning horse!! After all the fallout from last years Grand National this is a risk not worth taking for me.
 
If you applied the same criteria to the rest of the field, how many would you not want to run?
 
I can see your point, there's a huge potential downside in the worst case, but I just don't think it's possible to exclude him in any fair way. He might only just get over the fences at Cheltenham, but maybe that's just because he only jumps as high as he needs to, and he'll adjust as necessary when bigger obstacles come along?

Basically, if a Gold Cup and Welsh National winner who has never fallen over fences and has won on everything from Heavy to Good shouldn't run in the National, then what horse out there should?
 
Well he clearly stays and jumps adequately, hence Gold Cup/Welsh National winner as you say. But I think his jumping would have to show more scope to be a proper Aintree horse.

Maybe he will adjust to the bigger fences, but his size makes me seriously doubt that, making that a big Maybe for me.

If connections feel he's a good enough jumper to get around Aintree, then fair enough,. They see the horse school at home and know the horse better than me. But from what I've seen I can't have it and I'd be place laying on the day should he run.
 
As I remember Red Rum wasn't very big and he just did enough to clear the National fences.

Doesn't have to be a spectacular jumper to win at Aintree, accuracy is the key and the ability to adjust.

Haven't seen enough of Synchronised to have an opinion on his jumping ability.
 
Plenty of so-called iffy jumpers have won the National. I backed Royal Athlete something like three years in a row before abandoning it in the belief it couldn't jump well enough.

Last Supsect was more than capable of taking fences by the roots, as were Maori Venture and many others.

Rhyme N Reason did the splits and still got up and won.

Ben Nevis was famous for being pony-sized and would have won under top weight the year before it actually did win had it not been brought down.

Synchronised makes for uncomfortable watching from an aesthetic or even athletic point of view but if he can keep in touch with a Gold Cup pace it's hard to imagine his being found out by a Grand National one.
 
Bar the Bull said:
I like Cappa Bleu and Sunnyhillboy.

I am on SHB already...Treacle isn't for me, and I need to have a think about Killyglen.

Does Cappa Bleu definitely run?
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Cappa Bleu had an entry in the big handicap on the Tuesday of the Festival so presumably missed that because of his National aim. I like him, Chicago Grey and Junior at this stage but like to have four running for me.
 
Timmy Murphy now on Weird Al who has a chance if recovered from his Gold Cup run

Synchronised shortened up now McCoy has made positive noises and the same can be said for him – great chance if recovered from last month

I’ve backed both of them
 
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