| CLARE BALDING ON THE GRAND NATIONAL The Grand National has been an obsession for me since I was little and it is so exciting to be right in the middle of it on what is my favourite day of the year.
I think nowadays the Grand National is one of the few events of the year where families and friends get together and pick their horses in a group and then watch the race together.
It doesn't matter whether you are a six-year-old child experiencing the race for the first time or an 86-year-old grandmother, you can still pick the winner of the Grand National. I think that is what gives the race its special appeal.
For the jockeys, it is a high-profile race and a very intense time. They have got to be as fit and as strong as they are for any race and they are also the focus of a lot more media attention.
You've got someone like James Reveley who has only just turned 20 and rides Rambling Minster in his first Grand National - it is going to be such a monumental experience for him and I think he will go well.
Tony McCoy, who has yet to win the Grand National in his 13 attempts, would dearly love to triumph and I think it will happen for him one day.
Overall, I think the race rewards those who have the most patience but this year's field is very high quality.
You have last year's winner Comply or Die, Snowy Morning who was placed last year, Butler's Cabin and Hear the Echo who have won Irish Nationals as well as State of Play who has won a Hennessy Gold Cup.
I like Southern Vic, trained by Ted Walsh, although his son Ruby Walsh isn't going to be riding him. But Niall 'Slippers' Madden, who takes the ride, won on Numbersixvalverde in 2006 and is a talented replacement.
Of the other contenders, Rambling Minster has got to be in with a shout while I don't think State of Play and Black Apalachi will be too far away either.
Live coverage from Aintree starts at 1300 BST on BBC One on Saturday.
Clare was speaking to BBC Sport's Oliver Brett. | 
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