Grand National at Aintree attracts 112 horses and classiest ever field

The Grand National at Aintree on 10 April has attracted 112 entries, with all of the last three winners in the field for this year's race as well as a host of other classy runners. Phil Smith, the British Horseracing Authority's head of handicapping, said: "There is fantastic strength in depth to the entries. There are more horses rated 140 or above among the entries in this year's race than in the previous 11 years that I have handicapped the contest." Julian Thick, managing director at Aintree, added: "It is a measure of the race's health and stature as the world's most famous steeplechase that we have so many Grade One winners in there, including a Cheltenham Gold Cup victor. It will be interesting to see how Phil Smith frames the weights and we now look forward to the official unveiling of them at the John Smith's Grand National lunch on Tuesday 16 February." There will be a maximum of 40 runners on the day, and the traditional weights lunch the week after next at which Smith unveils the weight he has allotted each of the 112 possible runners will give punters a good idea of which horses are likely to make the cut and get a run. Each of the last three winners of the race, Mon Mome, Comply Or Die and Silver Birch, have been entered for the 2010 renewal. Comply Or Die, who was also runner-up last year, is one of nine entries for trainer David Pipe along with such horses as Madison Du Berlais and Seven Is My Number, while Silver Birch's Irish handler Gordon Elliott is also planning to run Backstage. The 38-strong Irish-trained entry includes Vic Venturi, Black Apalachi, Notre Pere, the 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition and 10 from the Willie Mullins stable. Paul Nicholls, who is still searching for his first winner of the event, has My Will, last year's third, among the entries, meaning that, with State Of Play, Cerium and Big Fella Thanks also engaged, the first six home from 2009 have all been entered once again. Nicholls, the champion trainer, has also engaged Saturday's impressive Cheltenham winner Taranis and Tricky Trickster, the ante-post 16-1 favourite with Totesport. With two victories in the race Nigel Twiston-Davies is the most successful current trainer and among his seven are Irish Raptor, Ollie Magern, Beat The Boys and Hello Bud. Evan Williams will send State Of Play, pulled up in the Hennessy at Newbury in November, straight to the race without a prep run. The trainer said: "He had a bit of a problem in his lumbar region after the Hennessy, which explains why he ran no sort of a race there. It was a minor problem that we sorted out, he's in full work right now and I am very happy with him. "We were pleased with his run last year. He jumped exceptionally well and the only mistake he made was at the one before Becher's, second time. He got shuffled back about 12 to 15 lengths at that point but then he got back into the race quite nicely between the second-last and the last. "My plan was to go straight back there after last year's race without a run. In a funny sort of a way, it is probably a good thing that we took him to Newbury for a day out and had that run around there. All of the very best runs in his life have come after a long break and there is no point in running him anywhere else before the Grand National." The BBC's commentary team for the famous race will be reduced to three this year, as a cost-cutting measure. Tony O'Hehir, who formerly covered the Becher's Brook end of the course, will be replaced by Darren Owen, while Ian Bartlett's role is expanded to include the section from Valentine's that Owen covered last year.