Midlands Grand National Young Dev Plan
Racing never stops and it's straight into a premier raceday meeting at Uttoxeter this afternoon.
The Midlands National is always exciting and great to see a proper prize of £84,405 to the winner. The Irish won it with Screaming Colours in 2022 and have two challengers today.
Young Dev is preferred to the inform mare My Silver Lining who might not last home. This Midlands National is going to be a serious test of stamina running four and a quarter mile on heavy ground. Mr Incredible is top weight which makes life difficult for that horse trained by Willie Mullins. Young Dev retains his form at ten years of age. He has run well at Navan on testing ground in the past and sure enough popped up to win there again in February. That win came over three miles on heavy off an Irish rating of 113.
Young Dev unseated at the Dublin Racing Festival and was given a nice confidence booster for this race with a spin around Limerick last weekend over a trip too short. If we look back into his past form, we find that Young Dev finished second in this race beyond Screaming Colours in 2022 when rated as high as 133. The UK handicapper has him rated 124 which is workable for trainer Denis Hogan. Young Dev carries a lovely low weight of 10-2 and less now thanks to his jockey Daniel King claiming off a further 3lbs.
Uttoxeter 3:00
1 point each way Young Dev 10/1 generally, 4 places.
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Past Results
Click to see past Big Saturday Race Preview Tips results
The Midlands Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt race in Great Britain. It is a handicap steeplechase and is run at Uttoxeter Racecourse in March, over a distance of about 4 miles and 2 furlongs (4 miles, 2 furlongs and 8 yards, or 6,847 metres). During the race there are 25 fences to be jumped. The race held Listed status until 2022 and was re-classified as a Premier Handicap from the 2023 running when Listed status was removed from handicap races
The first race was run on 3 May 1969. The race was initially run over 4m2f and was increased up to 4m4f in 1977. During this period it would have been, assuming accurate measurements, by 24 yards or approximately the length of a cricket pitch, the longest race in the NH calendar. In 1991 the distance was dropped to 4m, before being upped to 4m2f in 1993. The distance of the race was then reduced to 4m1½f in 2004 before being returned back to 4m2f in 2018. It is now the second-longest race in the British calendar, after the Grand National at Aintree.
Winners over past 10 years
| Year | Winner | Age | Weight | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Major Dundee | 8 | 10-02 | Rex Dingle | Alan King |
| 2022 | Screaming Colours | 11 | 10-06 | Conor Orr | William Durkan |
| 2021 | Time To Get Up | 8 | 10-10 | Jonjo O'Neill Jnr | Jonjo O'Neill |
| 2020 | Truckers Lodge | 8 | 10-07 | Lorcan Williams | Paul Nicholls |
| 2019 | Potters Corner | 9 | 10-07 | James Bowen | Christian Williams |
| 2018 | Regal Flow | 11 | 10-12 | Sean Houlihan | Bob Buckler |
| 2017 | Chase The Spud | 9 | 10–12 | Paddy Brennan | Fergal O'Brien |
| 2016 | Firebird Flyer | 9 | 11-05 | Adam Wedge | Evan Williams |
| 2015 | Goonyella | 8 | 10–12 | Jonnny Burke | Jim Dreaper |
| 2014 | Goulanes | 8 | 10-03 | Richard Johnson | David Pipe |
Best of Luck,
Nicky