Hello Bud ~ Grand National Contender

Without doubt, Hello Bud is a horse to look out for when it comes to the 2010 Grand National, and he has already been given antepost odds of 32/1. The Nigel Twiston-Davies trained 12 year old has already won the 2009 Scottish Grand National at Ayr, at odds of 12-1. Ridden by Paddy Brennan the horse withstood a late thrust from Tony McCoy on Gone To Lunch, also at odds of 12-1, winning by half a length and giving Twiston-Davies his third winner of that particular race. Having previously been trained by David Wintle, Twiston-Davies took over for the 2008/09 season and managed to improve Hello Bud by 30lbs.

Twiston-Davies has already proved that he has exactly what it takes to get a horse to Grand National standards, having previously won at Aintree twice, once with Earth Summit in 1998 and again with Bindaree in 2002. And the Gloucester-based trainer has made no secret of the fact that he thinks that Hello Bud is up to the task at hand, saying after the Scottish Grand National: ‘we’ve got to think about the Grand National, the English one, next year. We’ve got great riches in that department and it’s so exciting.’

He had another good race at Cheltenham at the end of October when he lead until the final 100 yards when he was overhauled to finish third to Galant Nuit and Don’t Push It in the Servo Trophy Handicap Chase. It is speculated that he was asked to do too much running from the front, but considering his stamina, previous triumphs over 31f, 32d and 33f, and his adaptability in terms of ground he is a definite contender for the National – could he score on his first attempt over the Aintree fences?