Over three miles to contend with, this race suits the ultimate stayer. In name of the great Many Clouds, it can be a potential starting point for any horse bidding to end up in the Grand National in the future, or for any top-class horse that sets this race alight, could allow them to make a swerve up in class, towards the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
In the last seven years, one five-year-old and one six-year-old have won this contest. Seven or eight seems to be the ideal age for this race, so a horse with plenty of experience seems to be the key, and that is no longer a novice.
Paul Nicholls has trained two winners of the race, with Unioniste and Sam Winner achieving back-to-back wins in 2013 and 2014. In total, Ireland have won the race once, with the then Willie Mullins-trained Don Poli landing the spoils back in 2015.
Four of the last seven winners were sent off as the favourite for the race, with the Brian Ellison-trained Definitly Red the most recent of those (in 2017), also looking to become the first dual winner of the contest. All seven previous winners returned at 4/1 or shorter in the betting.
Danny Cook, Leighton Aspell and Sam Twiston-Davies, just some of the names that all have chances for a second success in the race as well.
