Scottish Grand National preview: latest odds

The biggest prize in Scotland is on offer this weekend, and National Hunt trainers from all over Britain are flocking to Ayr for the Scottish Grand National (3.40pm). Click here for a free £200 to bet on the Scottish Grand National with Canbet All in, 24 horses go to post, and due to the presence of top-weight Halcon Generlardais, it appears that just three horses are running in the handicap, ie: running with the right amount of weight for their allotted handicap mark. Alan King's charge warmed up for this assignment with a splendid fourth in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham behind Denman, Kauto Star and Neptune Collonges. His form claims are outstanding as his second in the Welsh National by a head to Miko de Beauchene, who also runs this weekend, is the best form on offer in the race. Unsurprisingly, the pair dominate the betting, with most firms including the Festival's National Hunt Chase winner, Old Benny, as their first three in their lists at between 5/1 and 7/1. For those who take notice of trends however, a run at the Festival is often a negative. Only three horses who have won the Scottish Grand National in the last ten years ran at Cheltenham, and all three ran relatively poorly there before redeeming themselves north of the border. Baronet could only finish fifth in the Kim Muir Chase in 1998, while Take Control (2002) and Joes Edge (2005) were pulled up in their respective races. That would appear to rule out Old Benny, whose seven-length victory in the four-miler at the Festival propelled him to joint-favourite for this contest. Miko de Beauchene had the easiest task of the three market leaders at Cheltenham when he ran fourth in the Pertemps Final Hurdle, and considering his victory at Chepstow, he looks the most likely of the three at 6/1. The Grand National form was heavily represented during the early declaration stages, but just Philson Run and Mon Mome come here direct from Aintree two weeks ago. The last winner of this contest come from that route was Little Polveir back in 1987. Two who stand out are Opera Mundi and Ossmoses. The former is a progressive chaser and is all-importantly trained by Paul Nicholls, who has sent out one winner and four seconds. Opera Mundi has been lightly raced throughout his career - seven of the last ten winners had raced no more than 14 times over fences - and this will be only his third start of this campaign. He is one of the few who runs in the handicap proper and crucially, he has won over 3m before. At 8/1, he looks an excellent each-way prospect. Ossmoses ran a decent pipe-opener at Newbury last month after being off the track for almost a year. Lightly raced for his 11 years (only 15 starts in all), he came fifth in the Rowland Meyrick two years ago behind the likes of Sir Rembrandt and Truckers Tavern, who have both placed in Gold Cups. He carries a feather-weight of 10st and looks a big price at 12/1. Verdict: 1pt each-way Opera Mundi @ 8/1; 1pt each-way Ossmoses @ 12/1 Click here for a free £200 to bet on the Scottish Grand National with Canbet Canbet offers the best in Asian Handicap and Live "In-Play" betting. £200 Free when you join!