Jonjo O’Neill was the Grand National winning trainer in 2010 when his Don’t Push It landed the Aintree marathon under champion jockey AP McCoy, and he holds very strong claims to land the race for a second consecutive year in the 2011 event.

Obviously Don’t Push It will be back to defend his crown, a rock solid effort over hurdles recently at Newbury showed he was approaching peak form at the right time and despite carrying top weight he’s likely to be in the mix on the big day. That said, it would take a magnificent effort for him to do so, and because of the size of the task facing Don’t Push It, it’s not even certain that jockey Tony McCoy will be on board again in an attempt to make it two in a row and because of this there are better Aintree Grand National tips to be found.

With a selection of rides to choose from McCoy will weight up his chances carefully and pick the horse he thinks will go closest and anyone looking at the Grand National betting should remember this.

All of this means it could be another runner from the O’Neill stable who turns out to be the stables number one contender. Synchronised has already won a National this season, The Welsh National at Chepstow in January and this progressive staying chaser appeals as the ideal type for Aintree if taking to the unique challenge, although as anyone who follows racing will know that’s a very big if.

A preference for soft ground is a concern, but if there is cut in the ground this strong staying bold jumper can run a big race