TOMORROW is the day when the whole nation goes racing as, just after 5pm, millions will tune in from all around the world to watch the Crabbie's Grand National.

Last year's winner Many Clouds put the finishing touches to his preparation for the race when schooling under jockey Leighton Aspell on Wednesday morning and trainer Oliver Sherwood could not be happier with the big race favourite.

Successful in the world's most famous chase 12 months ago, Many Clouds will become the first horse since Red Rum in 1974 to capture back-to-back Nationals if he triumphs at Aintree tomorrow.

The nine-year-old, who won for the first time since last year's National at Kelso last month, jumped nine fences on the Lambourn schooling grounds alongside stablemates Beforeall and Rouge Et Blanc.

He is the general 8-1 market leader for the National from 10-1 shot The Last Samuri and Silviniaco Conti, a 12-1 chance.

"It's to keep his eye in," said Sherwood. "We didn't school over the National fences last year, hence why we're not this year.

"He'll have an easy day tomorrow and go up on Friday or Saturday, depending on my other runners.

"He's come right at the right time and, as I've said, Kelso was the first time he's been 100 per cent fit this season."

There are not many negatives for Many Clouds, who runs in the colours of National enthusiast Trevor Hemmings.

"It's more the other 39 horses than him," added Sherwood. "The fences still need jumping, but I'm very happy with where we are and it's very exciting and I'm enjoying the ride.

"It's when you haven't got a runner in the race you want one. He's fresh and very well."

With plenty of rain around the Liverpool area, I like the chances of Irish raider Goonyella. The horse is trained by Jim Dreaper, who rode Black Secret to finish a close second in the Grand National 45 years ago and a year later trained the same horse to take third. Tomorrow, 28 years after his last involvement in the race, he will be looking to go one place better.

The Grand National track was good to soft on Tuesday, soft in places at the Canal Turn, but Dreaper fears British soft is not as soft as Irish soft, although it was on British soft that Goonyella romped to victory in last year's Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter.

On much quicker ground one month later, Jonathan Burke's mount, a general 20-1 chance, filled the runner-up berth in the Scottish Grand National.

But Dreaper is adamant that proper mud would boost the prospects of a nine-year-old who missed the cut for both the 2014 and 2015 runnings of the Aintree spectacular.

"What Aintree has been having is what I call apologetic rain," said Dreaper. "It will be perfect ground, but English good to soft is hardly soft at all by our standards. Really we need the ground to be soft to heavy to increase our chance.

"On quicker ground at Ayr he was chasing the whole way. Aintree isn't the sort of place you'd want to be doing that. That's the horse we have, though."

That horse does have Aintree experience, but it was not positive as, having unseated Burke at the first fence of the 2014 Becher Chase, he finished an outpaced last of nine finishers on his return in December.

"We'd certainly have preferred him to have gone better on his previous visits," admitted Dreaper.

"He did run well at Naas last time out though, and if he jumps well he has a good each-way chance. That chance will increase if the ground gets softer. You can also guarantee he'll get the trip."

Dreaper, whose most recent National runner, Hard Case, fell in 1988, also recalled his near miss in 1971 when Black Secret, then trained by his legendary father Tom, hit the front a furlong from home, only to be narrowly collared by Specify.

"I nearly did it on Black Secret," he said. "As a youngster I always had the ambition to ride in the National – not necessarily to win it – because it's such a marvellous occasion. It was a great day. It was almost a perfect day."

Meanwhile, Pontefract got their season underway on Tuesday and Mark Johnston and Master Of Finance were on winning form.

Fit from a recent run at Kempton, Johnston's five-year-old led from the outset under Sylvestre De Sousa and kept on stoutly in the tiring straight to beat Invictus by a length and a half.

Johnston's assistant Jock Bennett said: "He is very tough. The jockey said to me that he didn't like the ground, but he seemed to go through it.

"He has handled soft ground before, but not as soft as that. It wasn't ideal, probably better ground would have suited.

"He might follow the same route as last year and go to Chester and York."