Royal Auclair
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Formerly trained in France, where he won two hurdle races at Enghien in 2000, Royal Auclair made a winning debut in Britain for Martin Pipe in a novices’ hurdle at Sandown in February, 2001. On his one subsequent start that term, he was well beaten by Montalcino in the Citroen C4 Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree. The next season he was sent over the bigger obstacles, winning three of his four starts including the Cathcart Chase at the Cheltenham Festival that March. During the 2002/03 campaign, the Garde Royale gelding was less successful, going down by at least 15 lengths on his three outings. He was transferred to Paul Nicholls in August, 2003. During the 2003/04 season, he finished in the first four on seven of his 10 starts, including on his final outing at Sandown in the Betfred Gold Cup that April, going down by a short-head to Puntal. Royal Auclair made a winning reappearance the following season, in the Listed Badger Ales Handicap Chase at Wincanton. He was subsequently an excellent third to Celestial Gold in Newbury’s Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup and obtained the same placing behind Grey Abbey in the Pillar Property Chase at Cheltenham. A fine fourth to Kicking King in the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup preceded a tremendous performance when second under 11st 10lb to Hedgehunter in the 2005 John Smith’s Grand National, before falling at the first in the Betfred Gold Cup. A reappearance fifth to Kingscliff in the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November, 2005, was followed by victory in a Listed handicap chase at Cheltenham the following month. He was then fifth to Kicking King in the Stan James King George VI Chase at Sandown on Boxing Day, before a surprise defeat when second to See You Sometime in the Cotswold Chase at Wincanton. He then ran ninth behind War Of Attrition in the totesport Gold Cup at Cheltenham in March, 2006, but got no further than the first fence in the 2006 John Smith’s Grand National, and failed to get competitive on his next two starts in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr and the Betfred Gold Cup at Sandown. Royal Auclair kicked off the 2006/07 campaign with a sixth to See You Sometime in a valuable three-mile chase at Ascot in October, and then ran fifth to Spot Thedifference in a cross-country event at Cheltenham the following month. After coming home seventh behind Whispered Secret at Cheltenham in January, Royal Auclair ran well when third behind Kauto Star in the AON Chase at Newbury on February 10, prior to finishing sixth to Heads Onthe Ground in the BGC Handicap Chase, over the cross-county course, at Cheltenham in March. In last year’s John Smith’s Grand National, Royal Auclair was prominent in the early stages of the race, but fell at the ninth fence. This season, Royal Auclair put a below par effort in a Grade Three chase at Ascot behind him with a close fourth behind course specialist Spot Thedifference in a cross-country chase at Cheltenham in November. After another disappointing effort over the National fences, when unseating in the totesport Becher Chase nine days later, Royal Auclair returned to Cheltenham with another good display over the cross-country course, finishing third behind Wonderkid, a position he would also fill in veterans’ handicap chases at Wincanton and Newbury. On his final start prior to the John Smith’s Grand National this year, Royal Auclair finished fifth in the BCG Handicap Chase, again over the cross-country course, at the Cheltenham Festival on March 11.

Race Record: Starts: 52; 1st: 8; 2nd: 6; 3rd: 9; Win & Place Prize Money: £487,486

Clive Smith
Clive Smith is a true jumping enthusiast who first went to Cheltenham in 1974 and has made a significant investment in his string of horses in recent years. A former Surrey golf captain, he was busy building golf courses, including Windlemere, Hawthorn Hill (now Birds Hill) and Pine Ridge, when first breaking into racehorse ownership in 1987 with Hawthorn Hill Lad, trained by Jenny Pitman. The owner then had a brief spell with David Elsworth before having horses with Martin Pipe for 12 years, but took the decision to switch his string to another Somerset-based handler, Paul Nicholls, in the summer of 2003. He bid up to 500,000gns at Doncaster Sales in May, 2004, for the record-priced Garde Champetre, who was eventually sold to J P McManus for 530,000gns. The brilliant Kauto Star won his connections a £1 million bonus put up by Betfair when completing a big race treble in the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup last season. Smith, a shrewd punter, is also believed to have collected over £100,000 in winning bets after his charge's Cheltenham victory. This year, the blow of Kauto Star finishing second in the totesport Gold Cup behind Denman was softened by a scintillating performance by new recruit Master Minded to capture the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase. A former executive with Ford and Chrysler who lives at Wentworth in Surrey, Smith is well known in the golfing world as the founder of the Lagonda Trophy, which attracts an international field of top amateurs, has been won by Lee Westwood and Luke Donald and is in its 33rd year. He is also a vintage car enthusiast and owns a 1928 and 1930 Lagonda.

John Smith’s Grand National Record: 2005 Royal Auclair (2nd); 2006 Royal Auclair (Fell 1st); 2007 Royal Auclair (Fell 9th)

Paul Nicholls
Paul Nicholls, the son of a policeman, was born in Olveston, Bristol, on April 17, 1962, and has been training at Manor Farm Stables in Ditcheat, Somerset, since taking out a licence on November 1, 1991. He started out as a jump jockey and twice rode the winner of the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury, in 1986 and 1987. He partnered 130 winners between 1980 and 1989, and nominates the best horses he rode as Broadheath, Playschool and Seagram. Between 1989 and 1991, he was assistant trainer to former Devon-based David Barons, who sent out Seagram to win the 1991 Grand National at Aintree during that time. Having strongly challenged Martin Pipe for the jump trainers’ championship in recent years, most notably when pushing his great rival right to the last day of the 2004/05 campaign, he claimed his first title in the 2005/06 season, and followed up last term, with the hugely-talented Kauto Star being the flag-bearer with victories in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park, Sandown’s Tingle Creek Chase, the Stan James King George VI Chase at Kempton, Newbury’s AON Chase and the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. Paul Nicholls pulled off the amazing feat of saddling seven winners and three seconds from his 10 runners on Saturday, November 7, 1998, and made history when he became the first trainer to saddle six winners on the same card, at Wincanton, his local track, on Saturday, January 21, 2006. Another highpoint in his training career came at the 1999 Cheltenham Festival, as he captured the major chase on each of the three days - Flagship Uberalles scored in the Irish Independent Arkle Chase, Call Equiname in the Queen Mother Champion Chase the following day and, best of all, See More Business took the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. Nicholls has trained 20 Cheltenham Festival winners in total, and was the most successful trainer at The Festival in 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. His three successes this year were Master Minded in the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase, Celestial Halo in the JCB Triumph Hurdle and Denman in the totesport Gold Cup, where stablemates Kauto Star and Neptune Collonges gave Nicholls a 1-2-3 in the race . His sole success at the John Smith’s Grand National meeting in 2007 was Twist Magic in the Grade One John Smith’s Maghull Novices’ Chase. His 1,000th British winner came when Noble Action won at Folkestone on November 15, 2004.

John Smith’s Grand National Record: 1992 Just So (6th); 1996 Vicompt De Valmont (10th), Deep Bramble (PU bef 29th), Brackenfield (UR 19th); 1997 Straight Talk (Fell 14th); 1998 What A Hand (Fell 1st), Court Melody (Fell 6th), General Crack (PU bef 11th); 1999 Strong Chairman (15th), Double Thriller (Fell 1st), 2000 Earthmover (Fell 4th), Torduff Express (Fell 13th), Flaked Oats (Fell 20th), Escartefigue (UR 30th); 2001 Earthmover (Fell 4th); 2002 Murt’s Man (PU bef 17th), Ad Hoc (BD 27th); 2003 Montifault (5th), Fadalko (UR 6th), Ad Hoc (UR 19th), Shotgun Willy (PU bef 22nd), Torduff Express (UR 27th); 2004 Exit To Wave (PU bef 9th); 2005 Royal Auclair (2nd), Heros Collonges (8th), L’Aventure (15th), Ad Hoc (Fell 22nd); 2006 Royal Auclair (Fell 1st), Le Roi Miguel (PU bef 19th), Cornish Rebel (PU bef 19th), Silver Birch (Fell 15th), Le Duc (UR 8th), Heros Collonges (UR 15th); 2007 Royal Auclair (Fell 9th), Le Duc (UR 6th), Eurotrek (PU bef 22nd), Thisthatandtother(PU bef 30th)