Tricky Trickster victory sets puzzle for Grand National handicappers

Paul Nicholls will travel to London tomorrow morning, anxious to find out whether Denman's dramatic exit from Saturday's Aon Chase has damaged the trainer's chances of a first victory in the Grand National. Denman is not entered for the Aintree race but his failure to get round at Newbury resulted in an unexpected success for his stablemate Tricky Trickster, who will surely get a greater burden than he would otherwise have received when the National weights are announced tomorrow. Britain's senior handicapper, Phil Smith, worked right up to his deadline of 4pm today as he completed his assessment of the 112 National entrants. It is the task that costs Smith most time and effort each year but, he said, this year's contest had appeared "straightforward" until the Aon, in which Tricky Trickster caught Niche Market in the final strides to win by a short-head. "That gave me a dilemma," said Smith, who could reveal no more, having been sworn to secrecy before tomorrow's event, when the biggest names in jump racing will gather at a Park Lane hotel. However, Smith is likely to be puzzling over the question of how much extra weight Tricky Trickster deserves, in light of Saturday's win, when he finished 18 lengths ahead of Air Force One, a Grade One winner who started third-favourite for the King George last season. If Smith took a very positive view of the form, he could raise Tricky Trickster by 10lb or more, taking him perilously close to the top of the weights. No horse has carried more than 11st 1lb to victory in the National since 1983. But Nicholls is adamant that the form amounts to little. "Tricky Trickster and Niche Market are on a par with each other and they've finished where they should have finished," he said today. "Air Force One hasn't run to his best and what else was in the race? The others are on a downward spiral. "I'm sure he'll go up 2lb or 3lb but, at Aintree, that will make no difference whatsoever. In the Grand National, I know as well as anyone, the luck you get is a lot more important than the weight you get. Tricky Trickster is a progressive horse and he's likely to improve for that race, at least as much as he goes up in the weights." Nicholls said he would also prepare Big Fella Thanks, My Will and Nozic for the National, which he has never won, despite 44 runners since 1992. Taranis may also line up at Aintree on Saturday 10 April, though he will first try his luck in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and his owner, Angela Yeoman, is not enthusiastic about a Grand National attempt.