Cant understand why Tidal Bay

Agreed. He is 13yo ffs. Give him a swansong at the home of racing and leave him be. If something happened to him at Aintree that would be really sad.

walofs ,the horse has no more and no less a chance of being injured than any other horse entered ,in fact much less imo .

the horse is entered for the gold cup and who knows maybe the double is on the card

Horse is at the top of its game ,should go well and is the current national  fav on here ,absolute scurrilous  comments suggesting what if summit goes wrong ...what if summit goes wrong with any other horse ...its horse racing and this is the big one and he will take his chance like the rest ,age/experience will help not hinder ,horse had a proper prep and absolutely no reason to think the race is a specific risk to it due to his age and every reason to think this 13yo can win the thing .

If you want to go down the road of horses that maybe not suited to the track/fences fair enough but this horse has been held back by injury and had lengthy periods off and is now ready ,age is not a problem in itself

More chance of him winning the GN than GC imo esp if given a lower mark by Phil Smith

Tidal Bay dropped 7lb in Grand National weights

By Andrew Dietz 12:00PM 11 FEB 2014

CRABBIE’S Grand National topweight Tidal Bay has been allocated a mark 7lb shy of his official rating as the weights for the £1 million Aintree spectacular on April 5 were revealed in London on Tuesday.

Although heading the list on 11st 10lb, the veteran chaser, who was given the same weight last year before being ruled out by injury, has been issued a mark equating to a rating of 161, which falls short of his 168 official rating.


Reacting to the unveiling of the weights, Tidal Bay's owner Graham Wylie said on At The Races: “We’re very pleased with that. The handicapper has given him a chance and we just hope the horse is fit and well on the day.

“It could be his swansong and we hope he gets luck in running and runs his usual style of running on best late on in the race.”

Next in the weights specifically framed by the BHA’s head of handicapping Phil Smith are the Nicky Henderson-trained duo Long Run (11st 9lb) and Hunt Ball (11st 7lb). With Hennessy Gold Cup hero Triolo D'Alene on 11st 6lb, the champion trainer has three of the top five in the handicap as he seeks a first success in the National.

Last season’s Coral Welsh Grand National winner Monbeg Dude [10st 9lb] joins Tidal Bay, who unseated Brian Hughes in the 2011 National, and Triolo D'Alene as the 20-1 co-favourite with Betfred, while this year's Welsh National second Hawkes Point, one of seven contenders alongside Tidal Bay for Paul Nicholls, is on 10st 6lb.

Not long after the weight were out, Ladbrokes went 25-1 the field for the Grand National.

Teaforthree, third at Aintree last year, has been dropped 5lb from 12 months ago to 10st 12lb, while every horse above Bog Warrior, tenth on 11st 2lb, has had their handicap mark compressed, mostly by small amounts apart from Tidal Bay.

Smith said: “I had three nightmare horses. I freely admit Mossey Joe [11st 1lb] might be 8lb too high or 8lb too low. The others were Pandorama [10st 2lb] and Quel Esprit [10st], who both ran in a hunter chase at the weekend.”

On his other contenders Wylie added: “We put Boston Bob [11st 3lb] in to see what he gets and he’s an interesting runner on better ground.

“On His Own [11st 3lb] needs a bit of luck in running this time as he’s been there twice and fallen twice when going well.

“We’re not sure about Prince De Beauchene [10st 10lb] as he has lost his form of late, but he’s a good age, has a nice weight and may be suited by a stamina test.”

Pros:
7llbs well in
terrific form
been aimed at the race
stays longer than the mother in law
a lot of horses look badly handicapped in comparison

Cons:
He is 13

Best chance ever of a top weight winning this race.
Special horses can do extraordinary things.

On the book how many can beat this horse?

When the usual happens and he gets behind...just how far back will it be?

At 4 mile plus pace,i doubt he will get too far back Howdi.

Well yes,but i am presuming he jumps ok,and runs like he has been pretty much since Nicholls got him.

Top weights in National since 2000 :

FUF0FP900UF34P

Add to that he is 13 and a dodgepot.

42 runs

15 wins
13 runner up
4 3rd
4 4th
3 5th
1 6th
1 7th
1 ur

A lot of Grade 1's amongst that lot mate

Royal Auclair carried 11 10 came 2nd

Took these figs off Racing Post the other day on page 3. I couldn't have him at all but if he wins this it would probably be the best training performance I've ever seen

Been a big fan of his for ages,just love the old characters in the game.
I too backed him in the Arkle amongst other wins and losses,and I was at Sandown when he won the Whitbread,which was my personal highlight of the horse.
Even when hes lost hes given me great enjoyment,the Hennessey and the Welsh National especially.
I do wonder how his career would have gone if he had been trained differently.
Its been pretty good as it is!!
If he DID win the National it would have to be my greatest moment in the sport.

I prefer to believe he was trying,just maybe looked a tad suspect!!
He CAN fool us sometimes.

I cant see anyone other than Ruby being able to cajole him home though. Jacob was found wanting at Chepstow. It will need to be better than Mick Fitz on Rough Quest.

^^^ from a man who doesn't normally write many (old joke)