grand national 2011 /

Mome Back for One More National Bid
27/01/11

If Venetia Williams' Mon Mome never wins another race he will still have achieved more in his career than most other horses could ever accomplish. Few will ever forget his fairytale success in the 2009 John Smith's Grand National when stunning the betting public by storming away with the highest profile prize in jump racing at odds of 100/1, writes Elliot Slater.

Mon Mome - winner in 2009

Mon Mome's 12-length defeat of the previous year's winner Comply or Die ensured that his name will live long in the annals of racing history, but he isn't one to rest on his laurels and last season, after running a couple of fine races over hurdles and then showing signs of hitting top form over fences, he took his chance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and at odds of 50/1 ran a tremendous third behind Imperial Commander and Denman. On the back of that effort the now 11-year-old was rightly fancied to make a bold fist of winning back-to-back renewals of the Aintree marathon, but after creeping into contention at the fifth last he took an unexpected fall, leaving us in the dark as to quite what he might have achieved.

With plenty of miles on the clock having raced 41 times (winning six), Williams has been sensible in not over-facing owner Vida Bingham's pride and joy this season, and he has yet to set foot on a racecourse as of the end of January. After the publication of the Grand National weights in mid-February it seems reasonable to expect him to have at least one run before coming to Aintree for what will probably be one last throw of the dice. He'll no doubt attract a few horse racing bets from people looking for another fairytale.

It would not surprise in the least to see Mon Mome run another big race, so his current odds of around 40/1 may well prove too tempting for many sentimental racing fans to resist.