ED CHAMBERLIN: I’ve been trying to crack the Grand National code since the weights were revealed in February… and here’s how it goes!

What a place this is and what a race we are in for. The excitement I have on Grand National morning is the same as it was when I first watched it with my grandfather all those years ago.

The National and FA Cup finals were the foundation of my sporting childhood, the days I would dream of where you watched history unfold before your eyes. On Wednesday, when all was quiet at Aintree, I walked the track and reflected on the privilege I have of presenting this great race.

I referred in last week’s column to the nerves I feel before going on air, but that’s because I know what the National means to so many of you. You will all have stories about the years you supported the winner.

This, of course, is the day when the nation has a flutter. People often ask me if I’m in when I’m in front of a camera. You better believe I do! Trying to crack the national code is something I try to do from the moment the weights are revealed in February.

So here’s how I see it going: There are two horses in this 34-race contest that could blow it apart. Nassalam, so spectacular when he wins the Wales Grand National at Christmas, would be a danger to anyone if he gets loose at the front of the field.

He could easily build up an insurmountable advantage as he did at Chepstow and Gary Moore, his trainer, is a master. These comments also apply to Willie Mullins, trainer of I Am Maximus, another capable of running anything else uneven.

I Am Maximus won the Irish Grand National 12 months ago and has the profile of so many previous winners. He has won at Grade 1 level, has plenty of class and it would be no surprise if he runs in a Cheltenham Gold Cup one day.

But I’m sticking to my guns. The Chamberlin pound each way went on Panda Boy in February and I expect him to be there when it matters at the end. Martin Brassil, his trainer, won the National with Numbersixvalverde in 2006 and always has his horses cheerfully mature when it matters.

He will remain best of all to beat Meetingofthewaters, another Mullins challenger; Galia Des Liteaux, a mare from Dan Skelton’s farm, can fill the minor places along with Mahler Mission, who has been kept fresh for this task.

It’s going to be an endurance race – it was particularly soft on the Leeds-Liverpool canal corner – but it’s one we should all be looking forward to, and while I’d love to have the winning ticket, proud to find the right line to the right moment.

Picking up from ITV commentator Richard Hoiles to say ‘The tiger with the heart of a lion’, after Tiger Roll’s historic second success in 2019, or ‘Scottish flags fly high again’, as I did last year, is the only that matters.

So what story awaits us? Every presenter craves a decent ‘hook’ and today Lucinda Russell, Peter Scudamore and Scotland lead the charge – Corach Rambler could join the pantheon of Aintree greats by repeating his success 12 months ago. What a joy he and his connections are to the sport. His owners, the Ramblers, include Cameron Sword, who was bought a share by his father in lockdown and is now starting to get youngsters involved in the sport via micro-shareholding. He is my dream owner to help promote the sport to the next generation.

Willie Mullins’ I Am Maximus (above) has the profile of so many previous national winners

Or could it be Tom Ellis, with his first runner as a professional trainer? Latenightpass is so well named with his grandsire Midnight Legend, sire Passing Glass and dam Latenightdip. Other relatives include Latenightfumble. This would be a family adventure as the 11-year-old is owned and bred by Tom’s mother and ridden by his wife, Gina Andrews.

Or can Kitty’s Light win the National for Wales for the first time since 1905? Trainer Christian Williams’ six-year-old daughter Betsy has been battling leukemia since last March, a battle she is winning, and now it’s up to the Kittys once again to shine a light in such a dark time.

Yesterday, Betsy and her sister, Tilly, left school to judge the style awards on Ladies’ Day. They’ve kept watching the National, which could make for an emotional story matching Aldaniti and Bob Champion in 1981. Like I said: what a race and what a place.

Ed Chamberlin is a Sky Bet ambassador