2014 Grand National Betting Tips Pt 2

You saw him go to the front of the pack last year and lead for the first few fences before hitting a couple after he stopped jumping quite so fluently. The fact that he finished the race does add appeal as it shows he is still a keen runner and doesn’t lose his focus when the going gets tough. 

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One of the most interesting aspects about his form this year has been that some of the races haven’t been won by significant margins and, after venturing well over 3 and a half miles in some cases you have to respect the fact that the horse can just dig in and still get the job done. Talented horses know how to find the line and Balthazar King looks to be just that. 

Watch out for perennial challenger Swing Bill once again as he makes his annual reappearance in the massive steeplechase after only two efforts this season. He put in a very reputable shift at Aintree in his first effort of the season in the Betfred Beacher Handicap Chase, finishing fifth from 22 when sent off at 10/1. His next effort came over 3 months later when he ran in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham with a relatively tame 11/23 at a 33/1 listing. 

His campaign this year has clearly been pointed at the National and he’s looking good to repeat his quality sixth place finish from last year when he was very much in the mix coming down to the business end of the race but just not quite enough to get up and really deal with Auroras Encore and some of the other horses who were disputing for the actual victory. 

There are no questions over his ability to actually finish the contest and he appears to be at his best when he gets stuck in. He copes well with national fences and will always give the punters an honest run. Look for him at a very respectable 50/1 right now which is well below his 80/1 odds that he went off at last year. 

Swing Bill looms as a significant bet if you can find a bookmaker paying out 5 or 6 places on the each-way. 

Another option at the same price is Hunt Ball who saw his American sojourn end without a victory as his ambitious connections went searching for some of that big money they run for in the stateside races. He never really looked comfortable at any point as they don’t tend to run on real steeplechase courses - just a hard American turf course with fences dropped onto it. 

It’s hardly surprising that he wasn’t able to really make the breakthrough and he always has had more talent than many have given him credit for. Look for him to take a lot of money on the day and go off shorter than the 50/1 he’s listed at right now for National glory.