Hunt Ball rolls into town

[scanman]

Thanks. Yes, the Grand National is my favorite race of the year (winning by a nose over the Cross-Country races at Cheltenham). Balthazar King is currently my favorite horse in training. He’s provided me with a couple of nice wins at Cheltenham, but I don’t see this as his race. While I hope he does well, I think sending him to a lucrative cross-country steeplechase in France would have been the move. But this is the Grand National and he’s in great form, so why not take a shot. Down the road, I’d like to see him line up in the Velka Pardubica at Pardubice in October.

My choice for the race is The Package. I really like the Pipe/Scudamore combination and it appears that he’s been laid out for the race. Lots of fantastic horses in the race, so he’ll need a bit of luck in running. He’s an easy bet for me, as he’ll be in the “Field” with Twinspires since their platform only provides 24 betting entities. So I will take the Field and get horses 24-40 (The Package is #33) and hope for the best. If he doesn’t come through, then maybe one of the other 15 will. If the odds are right, I may have a saver on Teaforthree and Prince De Beauchene.

Long Run could certainly be in the finish and his rider knows how to win on the National course taking the Fox Hunters’ Chase today on Warne for the same connections. I just don’t like the amount of weight he has to carry.

As for Hunt Ball, I just hope he comes out of the race okay.