Then in January we posted One For Arthur as one of our 2 (which became 4) selections for the Grand National. This was after he had won the Classic Chase at Warwick. This meant the horse was raised 10lb from his mark of 138 to 148 which we were confident would be high enough to get into the race. (Bottom weight ended up being 143).

We were delighted to see that 2 of our 4 selections were rated 4^th and 5^th on our ratings as we could give both upgrades based on their performances. Blaklion appeared to have been campaigned for this race similar to how connections had done the same with Ballyandy for the Betfair Hurdle (link to Ballyandy in Betfair Hurdle) and although he was beaten in the Grand National Trial his trainer was having a bad run of form (in fact since the 11^th February after Ballyandy had won the Betfair Hurdle his trainer was just 5/120!). We also knew the extra distance would suit One For Arthur as he was related to some smart stayers including Mountainous (twice winner of Welsh National), Big Shu & Josies Orders (both winners of the Cross Country Race over 3m7f at Cheltenham). He was also a progressive horse and was full of confidence whilst Top Rated had been in a hard race at Cheltenham and the 2^nd rated horse was stepping up significantly in distance from his 3m runs at Kempton.

One For Arthur jumped off ok on the 2^nd start and jumped well for the first circuit but Derek Fox was holding up a fair way back however this may have meant the horse was allowed to warm up to the fences in his own time as well as not getting involved in any early race collisions (both Definitly Red & Thunder and Roses were hampered by loose horses which caused them to pull up and unseat respectively.) With one circuit to go he was still way off the pace and was 25^th passing the judge but was still jumping well.

After 3 or 4 fences into the 2^nd circuit it looked like One For Arthur was starting to make ground but very quickly had dropped back again which was worrying. Jumping Bechers Brook for the 2^nd time, we was confident he would get round as the jumping tests had been completed but wanted Derek to start moving One For Arthur past all those now struggling. A fantastic camera shot at the Canal Turn allowed us to see that although a long way back he jumped the canal turn really fast and gained lengths before being pulled out wide for the next fence. After more good jumps down the far side he had moved up slightly into 12^th at the 3^rd last but still looked too far. It was after the 2^nd last however that Derek allowed One For Arthur to pick up and the response was immense.

He moved around the outside of the field and although he took off for the 2^nd last in about 5^th he landed alongside and bumped the leader Blaklion. This could have spelt trouble for One For Arthur had he been tired but he appeared to bounce of the leader and continue his running as if this was the 1^st fence! He jumped the last with a length lead over Cause of Causes who was running a huge race. Against a guaranteed stayer, One For Arthur pulled a few lengths clear of him coming up to the elbow and maintained this all the way to the line.

A fantastic effort from One For Arthur to win and the handicapper raised him 8lb for this win!

Blaklion ran well for us to finish 4^th having traded 1.52 in the run after looking like he was going clear crossing the Melling Road. It wasn’t to be and he got tired late on but still hung on to 4^th and is surely going to be back next year and being another year older we think he would run another big race.

Vicente fell at the first which was a shame as we never really got a run for our money with him and he’s likely to be rerouted now back to the Scottish National where he won as TOP RATED last year!

Ucello Conti was blinded at Bechers Brook 2^nd time round when eventual 3^rd jumped across him and try as Daryl Jacob might he wasn’t able to hang on and was unseated. He’s another that is likely to come back next year.

This meant our 4 selections finished F, UR, 4^th and 1^st.

If carefully campaigned next year and came back on his new mark of 156 then we feel he would be very hard to beat again which is very rare for winners to come back and be able to go really close again as the weight increase is normally too much. RTR-Liam has actually posted his thoughts on where connections should run this horse next season to get him back here off a mark of 156. This can be found in the Eyecatchers Target thread which is well worth a read.