Even with the event still weeks away, there have been a lot of interesting developments from various sources. In this post, we’re going to take a closer look at some of the things you can expect from the upcoming Grand National.

New Favourite

The biggest name creating headlines this past week would have to be Minella Rocco. Minella Rocco has been trained by none other than Jonjo O’Neill. As the star of the upcoming event, Minella Rocco has shown several great performances.

The recent runner-up finish in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup quickly set the tone for the thoroughbred. While the start could only finish 2nd behind another known name Sizing John, Minella Rocco is now the favourite to win the Aintree marathon.

“He couldn’t quite get to Sizing John up the hill, but Minella Rocco has run a tremendous Grand National trial,” said Michael Shinners, a horse racing expert who has been following the development of the young star. Bookmakers are starting to offer better odds for the horse, with both Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook slashing their odds to 8/1.

Minella Rocco is a great pick if you want to take advantage of free bets for Grand National 2017. It will be interesting to see how well the star performs in the upcoming event.

Top Picks

Another new favourite is the Fergal O’Brien-trained Perfect Candidate, who will be competing in the steeplechase on April 8th. Perfect Candidate also presents incredibly lucrative odds, currently priced at a 50/1 chance for the Aintree marathon, just behind the new favourite we talked about earlier. There is a considerable gap between the two top picks. Experienced sports punters believe that Perfect Candidate is still the best pick to consider.

“He’s fine. Hopefully he’ll go somewhere for a racecourse gallop and see how we go.” In an interview with a local news outlet, Trainer Fergal O’Brien seems very confident about his 10-year-old horse. Experience and past races do suggest that Perfect Candidate is a force to be reckoned with in the Grand National.

We also can’t talk about top picks without talking about the Saphir Du Rheu, who has been training under Paul Nicholls. Nicholls is an experienced trainer with a solid reputation of producing winners. In fact, he had been training winners for the 15th consecutive time when Saphir Du Rheu finished a credible fifth behind Sizing John.

We also have stunning horses such as Champagne Classic winning the Foxhunter Chase. The victory landed trainer Gordon Elliott the Leading Trainer Award at the Festival. Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle winner Penhill is also capturing a lot of attention after a spectacular performance and a show of great potential.

More to Come

The road to Aintree will be an exciting one to follow this year. Other horses have been showing their best performances these past few weeks, concluding events such as the Cheltenham Festival and particularly the Stayers’ Hurdle with great finishes. The odds are still changing rapidly as horses are being examined for their performance and traits.

Of course, it’s never too early to prepare for the Grand National. If you’re thinking about watching the event live, you must start securing accommodations and making travel arrangements right now; some of you may have already got those details sorted. There are also live streamed events and reports for those who can’t be at the Aintree Racecourse to join the excitement.