Roth Pond Regatta

Despite the 2010 Grand National not taking place until April 10th 2010, bookmakers are already taking ante-post odds on a large number of entrants. Once of those in potential contention for the big win is Denman.

Foaled in April 2000 in County Cork, Ireland, Denman who was bred by Colman O’Flynn, has an illustrious family history. Sired by Presenting and brother to Grade One winning Silverburn, he was originally trained by former champion jockey Adrian Maguire.

He was initia

lly spotted by Tom O’Mahony who is a scout for Paul Barber, the landlord of trainer Paul Nicholls, at the Duhallow point-to-point races at Liscaroll, where he beat 16 fellow runners by 12 lengths.

He was soon taken under the wing of Paul Nicholls where he is most frequently ridden competitively by Ruby Walsh. This pairing has been phenomenally successful and started back in the 2005/06 season. It was then that Denman won a 21 length victory at the Challow Hurdle.

He followed

this up the following season with four novice chase wins, and although he went in to the Cheltenham Festival as a pre-race favourite, the Nicholls contingent decided that he would be entered into the Royal and Sun Alliance Novices Chases as opposed to the Gold Cup.

Clearly it was the right decision as he stole the show from Snowy Morning by a cool 10 lengths and exhibited incredible jumping not seen in a novice for a long time previous.

The following year, the 2007/08 season

, he made his debut in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with new jockey Sam Thomas, due to Ruby Walsh’s decision to stay loyal to defending champion and fellow stable mate Kauto Star. With Paul Nicholls confident that both of his horses were 100% fit and ready to win the race, speculation was rife as to who would clinch it, so much so that even Ruby Walsh was uncertain as to what the outcome would be. The race was close but Denman managed to edge out the win by a tight 7 lengths.

Denman had a seasonal break in 2008/09 when he required treatment for an irregular heartbeat, and so didn’t appear until Kempton Park in February, where he finished second. Hopes for his next race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, were not as high as the previous year as many feared that his heart problems had impacted his performance and, to some extent, they were right as he failed in his bid to retain his claim on the cup, finishing second behind Kauto Star.

Speculation over his entry into the 2010 Grand National is rife despite that there are still months to go before any horses are going to be officially declared. Added to this problem is the fact that Paul Nicholls has announced that Denman’s stable mate, Tricky Trickster, is going to be his National contender.

However, this hasn’t stopped the bookies from jumping on the back of his potential entry and ante post odds are incredibly low given how far away this race is. Betfair have him as low as 24/1 to win!