Talking Horses: classy Vanillier can triumph for Irish in Grand National


A horse with proven Grade One-winning quality, could have too much class for British rivals Le Milos and Our Power

Heavy rain on Friday on ground that had been watered overnight resulted in the official going on the Grand National course changing to soft – from good-to-soft – and while a better day is in prospect on Saturday, the big race still promises to be more of a test than seemed likely when the field was finalised on Thursday.

This is, of course, the winter game, and soft ground will not come as a shock to the majority of the 40 runners. But it does raise an additional question mark about those whose ability to produce their best form – or even improve on it - at Saturday’s marathon trip was already in doubt.

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