Chicago Grey Odds

Using trends can often be a productive way of reducing the number of likely winners from the final field of 40 runners and the statistics this year point to the chances of Chicago Grey being one horse to focus on.

The Grand National is the longest race in the horse racing calendar and so it is unlikely that any of the runners will have proven stamina unless they have run in the Aintree showpiece before. Although Chicago Grey has not, he did triumph at the Cheltenham Festival last year in the 4m National Hunt Chase.

Age and weight tends also favour Chicago Grey odds

Eight of the last ten winners of the Grand National have been between the ages of eight and ten and with Chicago Grey being a nine-year-old, he looks of optimum age to run well. Meanwhile, in the last four years, 14 of the 16 horses to have won or been placed in the Grand National have been allocated a weight of at least 10st11lb. Chicago Grey has been given 10st13lb and this looks a more than winnable mark.

Trainer Gordon Elliott also already knows what it takes to win a Grand National, having saddled Silver Birch to victory in 2007.

Racing style the big negative for Chicago Grey odds

Front runners are typically preferred in the Grand National as they tend to encounter fewer problems in running. With Chicago Grey preferring to settle at the rear of a field, there is not only the chance that he may fall too far behind, but a bigger risk that he will brought down or negatively impacted in other ways by horses in front of him. But the booking of Paul Carberry is noteworthy as he is proven at producing the goods on horses of this nature.