Easyview: the simple way to view the runners for the 2023 Grand National
The idea of Racing Post Easyview began with a simple but ambitious aim. We wanted to bring form study into the 21st century, losing the jargon and the steep learning curve to read form which can put off some of racing's prospective fans. But as we are also the leading providers of form and data, we were not prepared to scrimp on the details either.
The basic principle of Easyview is to take into account all of the angles an expert would consider ahead of a race. These are attached to one of six key attributes, then weighted and compressed into a series of scores out of 100 and, finally, displayed in the colour-coded bars underneath each runner on our Grand National Easyview card.
What you see on this page is the fruit of countless hours of work by our racing experts, data scientists and designers. But, crucially, those final numbers are not our opinions: the logic is all done by machine. As such, the scores Easyview provides look very much like those you would expect from a skilled, dispassionate judge.
We have been publishing Easyview cards on certain big races for the last four months, with the overall scores providing some excellent results with plenty of big-priced winners and placed horses in major handicaps.
If this is your first time seeing an Easyview card, start with the text down either side as this will help you to interpret the bars and learn a bit more about what goes into them.
Best of all, as these metrics are divided into attributes you can still find your preferred way of solving the Grand National puzzle, by homing in on the elements you prize the most. Easyview still allows you to pick winners your way. Click on this link to tell us what you think of it.
The Easyview racecard
Randox Grand National (5.15 Aintree, Saturday)
Any Second Now
Course rating: 96
As the only previous winner in the field, Noble Yeats is unsurprisingly top of the shop when it comes to course form. However, Any Second Now has been placed in the last two runnings of the race.
The Easyview engine takes this into account, but it puts more stock in performance levels than form figures and it is important to Any Second Now's score that two of his three best runs on Racing Post Ratings have come at Aintree. His course rating of 96 puts him significantly ahead of, for example, Delta Work. That horse was third in last year's Grand National but has loads of better form at tracks other than Aintree, most notably Cheltenham and Leopardstown.
Noble Yeats
Jumping rating: 92
That last year's winner scores highly for his jumping might seem obvious, but there is a lot more to Noble Yeats' field-leading jumping rating than that. Others have cleared more fences, including more at Aintree, than Noble Yeats, but what sets him apart is his overall jumping.
Our jumping ratings take into account both horses' results throughout their chasing career (Noble Yeats has never fallen or unseated his rider) and scans their in-running comments to check for jumping mistakes. Since he won last year's National, Noble Yeats has jumped blemish-free on all of his British and Irish starts. The closest he has come to a mistake was when he was 'not fluent' at the tenth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last time.
Delta Work
Easyview score: 93
The Easyview score is a weighted average of the six attributes on the card, with different weightings depending on the type of race. You need stamina and class above all to win a Grand National, so it is no surprise that Delta Work, who boasts the highest Easyview score in the field, excels on the distance and ability attributes in particular.
The engine picks up loads of positives on Delta Work: from him being with the most successful active trainer in the race, being ridden by a jockey who won on him last time who has an excellent record in British chases, having Gold Cup-level ability yet being ahead of the handicapper, his exceptional record over extreme distances and his exemplary completion rate over fences. He has everything you need for a modern Grand National.
Gaillard Du Mesnil
Jockey rating: 100
Being the man who succeeded Ruby Walsh could have been one of the sharpest double-edged swords in racing history, but Paul Townend has been more than up to the job. He is Willie Mullins' number-one jockey these days and that has brought him plenty of big-race success. Our scores dig deeper and they pick up on the fact that Townend fares especially well in races over fences, particularly when he rides in Britain.
They also take into account recent form, on which front Townend is second to none both on the numbers and off the back of an exceptional ride to win the Irish Grand National last Monday aboard I Am Maximus. Townend's endorsement of Gaillard Du Mesnil was the final nudge to push that horse into the top four overall on Easyview scores.
Le Milos
Trainer rating: 100
In our engine, trainer scores depend on context. Were this an Irish Graded hurdle, Willie Mullins would have a much higher score than Dan Skelton. In a British handicap chase, the stats show that Skelton's record can stand up with the best Mullins sends over.
Skelton has landed two of Britain's biggest staying handicap chases this season: the Becher Chase over the National course and the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury. The model notes this, as well as his overall record at Aintree. His horses significantly outperform the course average here. Mullins and Elliott, who really only target the Grand National and will still have lots of horses beaten a long way in that race, do not score quite as well. Skelton's Coral Gold Cup winner Le Milos therefore more than holds his own on the trainer attribute.
Diol Ker
Distance rating: 75
Given the race conditions of the Grand National now mean that only proven stayers (at three miles or more) need apply, it is unsurprising that most of the field score quite highly on the distance metric. Diol Ker's 75 score is the lowest in the field, but even then he is not exactly a guaranteed short-runner. He has run some very good races at around three miles, including when second in a big handicap at Leopardstown over Christmas, but on three occasions he has raced over three and a half miles or further and he has been soundly beaten every time. With over four and a quarter miles in prospect here, his score suffers as a result.
Corach Rambler
Ability rating: 100
The idea with handicaps like the Grand National is that ability should correspond to weight carried. Easyview is no different and makes this allowance primarily through the use of weight-adjusted Racing Post Ratings. On RPRs Corach Rambler is comfortably clear in the National field courtesy of a big career-best at the Cheltenham Festival, where he landed the Ultima Handicap Chase for the second year running. That he is demonstrably well handicapped, as well as progressive, means he leads the field on the ability metric, which in most races contributes more to the overall score than any other attribute. Interestingly, it is still not quite enough to get him into the top four, although he is fifth on the list in terms of Easyview score.
Cloudy Glen
Easyview score: 87
If you are looking for a big-priced horse to include in your Grand National squad, Cloudy Glen could be the one. I am not sure whether I will back him, as I believe he is best straight after break. But then that might just be one of those human prejudices.
Verdict
1 Delta Work
2 Noble Yeats
3 Le Milos
4 Gaillard Du Mesnil
Having the best Easyview score means a little more than 'ticking all the boxes', as pundits are a little too fond of saying when it comes to the Grand National. It is about the horses who fill in the most boxes with the most emphasis. Delta Work excels on distance and ability, arguably the two most important attributes for the National, and scores well on the rest. He just edges out last year's winner Noble Yeats, who is giving him weight this time, and recent big-race winners Le Milos and Gaillard Du Mesnil.
Grand National day previews:
1.45 Aintree: Jonbon bids to bounce back from Cheltenham disappointment - can anyone stop him?
3.00 Aintree: Britain or Ireland: who will take the spoils in the novice hurdle division at Aintree?
Grand National 2023: 'He's got the profile and is in great form' - top trainers on their big guns
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Published on inPreviews
Last updated
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- 1.55 Warwick: can Cheltenham Festival winner You Wear It Well go one better than her chasing debut to land Listed feature?
- Tara Lee Cogan saddles first runners since taking over from Shark Hanlon plus a Newcastle raid worth noting - punting pointers for Thursday's racing
- Dylan Johnston has first ride for Paul Nicholls and a trainer bids to end 754-day wait for a winner - Wednesday's punting pointers
- 7.40 Kempton: could Duke Of Oxford be peaking at the right time to repeat last season's victory in series final?
- 12.20 Punchestown: 'He looks tailor-made for the staying division over fences' - three-time Grade 1 winner Dancing City makes chasing debut