MOMENTUM which started in the Haydock Park winner’s enclosure in January 2006 may reach its conclusion at Aintree this afternoon.

For owner Trevor Hemmings and trainer Donald McCain junior today’s John Smith’s Grand National may be the perfect end to a long-held plan.

Cloudy Lane goes into today’s race as the hot favourite, and so far in his short career whatever connections have asked of him, the eight-year-old has delivered.

It all started when he won the Red Square Vodka “Fixed Brush” Novices' Hurdle Final Bonus Race at Haydock – a race Hemmings also won again last month – beating this year’s Coral Welsh National winner Miko De Beachene into fifth.

It was the third time the Cloudings gelding, who was bred by his owners’ Gleadhill House Stud, had won at a track both McCain and Hemmings are so fond of.

McCain recalled: “Winning the National was talked about when he won the Red Square final at Haydock two years ago.

“We were stood in the winner’s enclosure and Mick Meagher – Trevor Hemmings’s racing manager – said to me, ‘This will be an Aintree horse one day’. That was really only a loose idea at that stage. But we went through last season and the more he ran, the better he ran.

“He is the type of horse that we always thought might make into an Aintree horse. And although everything he has done so far shows he could be, we still don’t know if he really is because he has never ran there.”

This afternoon they will find out when the eight-year-old looks to add to his successes this season and last, with his ultimate victory.

Cloudy Lane provided McCain with a first Cheltenham Festival success last March in his initial season when taking over the licence at Bankhouse Stables in Cholmondeley from his father Ginger.

That victory in the Fulke Walywn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Chase at the Festival confirmed to McCain jnr he had a horse with National potential.

And although he fell in last year’s Irish National at Fairyhouse, this season has been geared around peaking at Aintree this afternoon.

McCain said: “Mr Hemmings was keen to go to Ireland and to be honest in hindsight maybe we shouldn’t. When he won the Kim Muir at Cheltenham that was his day and he had probably had enough by the time he went to Ireland.

“He is not the most robust horse in the world. And when he runs his race, he really runs it. Cheltenham probably took more out of him than we thought and so he wasn’t at his best after that.

“There was a faller in front of him in the Irish National and to be honest he did very well to avoid him, but Tony (Dobbin) went out the sidedoor.”

This season, though, everything has gone to plan. An encouraging fifth on his seasonal reappearance at Haydock has been followed by three victories in the Tommy Whittle back at the Newton-le-Willows venue and at Ayr and Doncaster.

The latter in the Grimthorpe Chase was particularly impressive and he has been at the head of the betting ever since.

McCain feels he has given him as much experience over fences as possible. But having never encountered the daunting Aintree obstacles there are always doubts as to whether he will take to the place, like his father’s Red Rum and the stable’s other National hero Amberleigh House did so successfully.

And although he is still to truly test his stamina over today’s marathon 4m4f trip, McCain is hopeful.

The 37-year-old handler said: “Cloudy has had only 11 runs over fences and he is still only a second season novice, but we have tried to get as much experience as we can.

“He won a competitive Cheltenham handicap as a novice with a big field and he has jumped the biggest tracks. He has as much experience as you can hope to have for a horse of his age. But until they come and set sail down the first at Aintree you can never know.

“He won over three and a quarter miles around Doncaster, and three miles around Cheltenham, so he does stay. I don’t see why he shouldn’t stay the National trip. But I don’t really know how many horses do genuinely get the four-and-a-half miles of the National.

“He has ability to travel and jump at speed and hopefully travel into his race with every chance. Then after that what happens to him from turning in if he gets that far we will find out. But there is no reason to suggest that he has less chance of getting the trip than anything else.”

A big advantage he will have is that his wins at Ayr and Doncaster came after the weights were unveiled for today’s race.

So he is effectively ahead of what Liverpool-born handicapper Phil Smith initially allotted him.

McCain said: “He is obviously 20lbs higher in the ratings than when the weights came out in February following his wins at Ayr and Doncaster and Phil Smith said to me if he was handicapping the race again he would have top weight.

“So that just shows you how well he is. At any other track that would mean a lot more than it does at Aintree, though.”

While McCain has left nothing to chance in his preparation for today, like his father, he has not built Aintree-style fences to prepare his charge for what he may encounter.

He added: “I don’t think you can build a National fence really. You can get one of your schooling fences and put a spruce on top of it. But all they will do is kick their way through it and get almost a false sense of security because if you try to do that to one of the fences at Aintree, you will come down. I don’t know if trainers do it to make themselves feel better, that they have covered every angle, but I don’t think you can build a fence like a National one. And it possibly isn’t the worst thing in the world if they go down to the first and it is new. They just think ‘hold on a minute I best do something different’. It makes them think and they can’t take liberties.

“We have never done it and dad never did it. Some people might say we are wrong, but it hasn’t worked too badly before.

“If your horse is going to fall around Aintree, it is not because you have not built a schooling fence with spruce on it.”

Whatever happens McCain is just glad that Hemmings, who won the National with Hedgehunter in 2005, has let him train Cloudy Lane.

He said: “It is fantastic. To train for one of the biggest three owners in the country is fantastic.

To be fair Cloudy has already done his job. He won the Red Square final, he has won at the Cheltenham Festival, he has won novice hurdles at Haydock, a Tommy Whittle. These are the places Mr Hemmings likes and if I had to I couldn’t have picked a better first horse to train.”

McCain will also saddle another of Hemmings’ horses today. Idle Talk was bought and moved from Tom George’s stable 12 months ago. The nine-year-old unseated Jason Maguire in last year’s National.

He seems to be coming back to the form that saw him finish second in the Royal & SunAlliance at Cheltenham and fourth in the Scottish National two years ago.

McCain said: “With Idle Talk things went a little pair-shaped. But he didn’t fall last year – he unseated. He had just started to travel into the race nicely. We have done a few things differently and touch wood, we are over the issues. He is a thorough stayer, he was fourth in the Scottish National and was classy enough to finish second to Star de Mohaison in the Royal & SunAlliance Chase. He ran well in the Great Yorkshire (Skybet Chase), he ran well when fifth in the Kim Muir and he has a nice weight. The ground should suit him if he gets into his rhythm and gets doing his job properly.”

McCain, though, is not a great watcher of his horses and just hopes they come back sound.

He came to his first National 30 years ago, when Red Rum missed the race due to injury.

McCain said: “I was too young really to see Red Rum. I watched his last win on the TV, and I have obviously watched them all on videos and DVDs since, but the first time I came to the National was the year Red retired. It was in 1978 when I first came and the night before he went and couldn’t run. Lucius I think won it, but it wasn’t a great race if I’m honest.”

He added: “Whenever I run one here I just want all the work to be worthwhile and that doesn’t necessarily mean winning it. You just want the horse to get his chance to run his race. Getting to the Canal Turn second time and then running his race is all you can ask. From there if he is good enough, great, but if he’s not well that’s okay.

“But there is nothing more frustrating than when something happens early on and you don’t get the chance to see if he is good enough. Like what happened to Idle Talk last year.

“It is the same with any race, whenever I run a horse. It is that feeling of frustration if they unseat or come down. You don’t know anything at the end of the race. You have another 12 months to find out.”

And on today, he added: “It will be painful watching. I am like that with any of my horses. How much of the race I will watch I don’t know. I will pop my head up every now and again to have a look and see how things are going. I will wander around down the stands somewhere. I tend to walk around in circles.”

That walk could be extended late this afternoon, to the oval where they hand out the trophy to the Grand National winner.