ED CHAMBERLIN: I have been trying to crack the Grand National code since the weights were revealed in February... and this is how I see it going!

What a place this is and what a race we have in store. 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 the FA Cup final were the foundations of my sporting childhood, the days I’d dream about when you’d see history unfold before your eyes. On Wednesday, when all was quiet at Aintree, I walked the course and reflected on the privilege I have presenting this great race.

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

This is the day, of course, when the nation has a flutter. People often ask me whether I join in, given 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 this is how I see it going: there are two horses in this 34-run contest that could blow it apart. Nassalam, so spectacular when winning the Welsh Grand National at Christmas, would be a danger to all if he gets loose at the head of the field.

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

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

But I’m sticking to my guns. The Chamberlin pound each-way went on Panda Boy in February and I’m expecting 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 cheery ripe when it matters.

He will stay on best of all to beat Meetingofthewaters, another Mullins contender; Galia Des Liteaux, a mare from Dan Skelton’s yard, can fill the minor placings, along with Mahler Mission, who has been kept fresh for this assignment.

It’s going to be a stamina-sapping race — it was particularly soft on the corner of the course by the Leeds-Liverpool canal — but it’s one we should all look forward to and while I’d love to have the winning betting slip, I pride myself on finding the right line for the right moment.

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

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

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

Or might Kitty’s Light win the National for Wales for the first time since 1905? Trainer Christian Williams’ six-year-old daughter Betsy has been fighting leukaemia since March last year, a battle she’s winning and now it’s over to Kitty’s to yet again provide light during such a dark time.

Yesterday Betsy and her sister, Tilly, skipped school to judge the style awards on Ladies’ Day. They’ve stayed on to watch the National, which could serve up an emotional story to match Aldaniti and Bob Champion in 1981. As I said: what a race and what a place.

Ed Chamberlin is a Sky Bet ambassador