On Saturday, April 10 2010, the John Smith's Grand National will take place with a record prize fund of £925,000 so competition for a place among the forty starters is fierce as it is the only race in which the British Horse racing Authority's Head of Handicapping, Phil Smith, can use his discretion to determine the weight each horse will carry.

The weights were announced on Tuesday 16 February, in London at the Official Launch of the 2010 John Smith's Grand National attended by connections of many of the leading contenders and such is the quality of this year's entry that only 14 of the 111 remaining entries are not currently in the handicap.

Since then there has been much discussion about the various horses and which of them will ultimately make it to the final day without being scratched off the list over the next few weeks.

The highest weight attributed to any one horse was 11st 10lbs and, as it turned out, three horses were allotted this and they are Albertas Run, Madison Du Berlais and Notre Pere. Interestingly, this was the highest weight in the 2009 Grand National also when it was given to Cloudy Lane who unseated his rider, Jason Maguire, at fence fifteen.

The lowest weight, 8st 12lbs, went to Offaly, an Irish nine year old trained by Pru Townsley. A weight this low and one that puts the horse at 111 on the list of possible runners essentially puts him out of contention. In fact, only horses that made it in to the top 75 of weights are most likely to make it in to the race after the scratchings take place over the next few weeks.

Last year Cerium was number 75 on the list and made it through and coincidentally he is number 75 on the list again so his trainer, Paul Murphy, is hoping that history will repeat itself this year as well as Cerium came in a respectable fifth place in 2009 and Murphy believes that he is in even better shape this year.

Ante-post favourite Tricky Trickster has been given 11st 4lbs following a successful run in the AON Chase at Newbury. The Paul Nicholls trained horse will run off the same weight as the Newbury runner-up Niche Market, winner of last season's Irish Grand National. On paper Tricky trickster looks to be the better of the two horses with more consistent form under his belt but Niche Market is a couple of years older and with that comes experience and stamina that ultimately counts for far more at the Grand National.

Last year's winner, Mon Mome who carried 11st back in 2009, has been allotted an additional 7lbs for this year and is the highest weighted of the three former winners who are still in contention. Comply Or Die, who won the 2008 John Smith's Grand National off 10st 9lb, has been allotted 11st 5lb this year, 1lb less than he carried when finishing second to Mon Mome last season. Silver Birch, who carried 10st 6lb to victory in 2007, has been given 10st 5lb this year.

There are 111 horses still in the running for a place on April 10, of which 38 are Irish trained. The deadline for the first scratchings is March 2 with second scratchings deadline being March 23 2010.