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grand national 2012 /

According To Pete On Course for John Smith's Grand National
09/02/12

Trainer Malcolm Jefferson is hoping that According To Pete can continue his excellent recent form in this year’s 975,000 John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree on Saturday, April 14.

According To Pete
Grossick Racing Photography

According To Pete has posted a pair of Grade Three handicap chase victories on his most recent starts as he made all of the running to take the Don’t Push It in 2010.

HANDICAPPER PHIL SMITH SAYS 2012 JOHN SMITH’S GRAND NATIONAL IS A HIGH-QUALITY RACE

The task of handicapping the John Smith’s Grand National, run over four and a half miles and 30 fences, falls to Phil Smith, Head of Handicapping at the British Horseracing Authority.

The John Smith’s Grand National is the only race in the calendar where Smith can use his discretion to determine the weights, rather than purely rely on ratings.

Smith, who first framed the weights for the Aintree spectacular in 1999, believes the 2012 renewal will be a race full of quality.

He said: “Even though the number of entries for the John Smith’s Grand National is lower this year, there are more horses rated 145 plus than there were in 2011, which obviously shows that the race is going in the right direction.

“The other point to note is that the percentage of entries rated over 135 is the highest ever. The 2012 John Smith’s Grand National is a high-quality race and I am still working on the handicap. The high quality of the entries doesn’t make my job more difficult but certainly makes it more interesting as it is always more fun to deal with good horses.

“A whole host of horses were entered over the past five to 10 years that never had any hope of getting a run. All that is happening now is that owners and trainers are being more realistic and only entering horses which have a good chance of lining up in the race.”

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