NEARLY seven million of us will be glued to the television at 3.45pm this afternoon to watch the Aintree Grand National, most having made the once-a-year trek to the local betting shop in the hope of predicting the winner.

Feathering the bookies' nest is not a folly I care to indulge in myself, nor recommend to readers of the Northern Echo, so in a sincere attempt to help retain the £200m wagered on the world's most famous horse race, I say back Bindaree (3.45) each-way.

Bindaree doesn't need a map or compass to navigate his way round the lung-busting, four-and-a-half-mile marathon course, having triumphed in 2002 with a fantastic display of spring-heeled jumping.

Neither did the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained gelding do badly 12 months ago, finishing a gallant sixth after defying a heart-stopping blunder when going down on his belly at the fearsome Bechers Brook on the first circuit.

Uncharacteristically Bindaree actually made a similar hash of the same obstacle on the second and final circuit, which effectively put him right out of contention.

Miraculously jockey Carl Llewellyn got his horse going again and even though the combination had the length of a football pitch to make up on the leaders over the closing half-mile, nothing was keeping on more stoutly come the last two leg-wilting furlongs.

Bindaree has bounced right back to his very best this term, winning the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow when flooring Sir Rembrandt, who subsequently made the nation's favourite racehorse, Best Mate, pull out all the stops to land a third successive Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Such compelling evidence provides a serious case for an each-way investment on Bindaree, an opinion not out of line with that of his Gloucestershire-based handler.

"This year he seems to be a transformed horse and I think he's now at his very best," reported Twiston-Davies.

Should Bindaree fail, it is still a good idea to have three other "insurance" each-way wagers to try to squeeze every last thrill from what is by its very danger-filled nature, normally an extremely eventful and, let's not forget, occasionally tragic affair.

For my second choice, I'm sweet on the prospects of Southern Star, currently on offer at around the 25-1 mark.

Not so long ago Henrietta Knight's representative looked as if he was on the way to the top of the chasing tree with back-to-back victories at Cheltenham and Bangor.

But that was before Southern Star's jumping became more dodgy than your average Premier footballer's dive.

As confidence slumped, so did his form, but despite being out-of-sorts, Southern Star managed to get round and finish 14th in last year's National - not a bad effort considering he had shown little encouragement in the lead up to the race.

Thankfully, this year he's turned the corner, a point well and truly hammered home by his rout of a decent field in the three-mile-five-furlong Listed Tote Classic Chase at Warwick worth a whopping £63,800 to the winner.

Southern Star is owned by Trevor Hemmings, also responsible for my third choice, 33-1 shot Artic Jack.

Hemmings, a multi-millionaire with over 40 horses in training, including the much-fancied Irish raider Hedgehunter, has widespread business interests such as Blackpool Tower and the Winter Gardens, where he is behind plans to develop the "Las Vegas of the North".

Compared with most of us, Hemmings' chips are already solid gold, nevertheless winning the National would be the realisation of a long-held dream for Trevor, for whom Artic Jack is a lively contender.

"Obviously you need some luck in running but he's definitely big enough and scopey enough to jump the fences," said trainer Sue Smith, whose massive eight-year-old slammed none other than top-notch chaser Kingscliff in the Grade 2 Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock in January.

The National ante-post market leader, Jurancon 11, has since inflicted a heavy defeat on Artic Jack at the same venue, however Smith's runner is prone to the odd stinker and it may be unwise to write him off for one bad day at the office.

My fourth and final choice, quoted at 25-1, is What's Up Boys, hailing from Philip Hobbs' yard at Minehead in Somerset.

What's Up Boys, a former winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup, possesses that undisputed touch of class absent from so many of today's contenders.

Runner-up to Bindaree in the 2002 showpiece, the gritty grey later sustained an injury and was laid off for 476-days prior to occupying fourth spot when reappearing at Wincanton in February.

"He'll go straight to Aintree now," declared a delighted Hobbs following that cracking performance, which was good enough to persuade leading jump jockey, Richard Johnson, to take the mount in preference to several other possibilities.

One final practical tip, some bookmakers, for example Bet365, Bet Direct and Victor Chandler, will pay each-way on the first five home, therefore don't forget to shop around before placing your bets today.

Janus' each-way selections

1 BINDAREE

2 SOUTHERN STAR

3 ARTIC JACK

4 WHAT'S UP BOYS

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