Not since Red Rum has a horse dominated the Aintree scene like Hedgehunter and trainer Willie Mullins believes his veteran has every chance of winning the John Smith's Grand National for a second time.

Mullins was one of the many trainers associated with the world's greatest steeplechase to gather at the Savoy hotel in London yesterday for the unveiling of the weights, with his charge allotted the steadier of 11st 12lb in company with Exotic Dancer.

But the hefty burden does not dampen Mullins' enthusiasm regarding his 11-year-old, who is a 14-1 chance with Coral and will be running in the marathon event for the fourth consecutive year.

After crashing out at the final fence when still in contention in 2004, the Trevor Hemmings-owned gelding raced to a facile 14-length success the following year. Twelve months ago he finished an honourable second to a better-weighted rival in Numbersixvalverde (now 11st 3lb) and connections are expecting another bold show on April 14th.

Mullins said: "He has every chance of winning the race again so long as we get decent ground. He is always going to have top weight, but on decent ground the weight doesn't matter too much.

"He won the race as a nine-year-old and it is generally older horses that win the race. He has run well there the last three years and put up a great effort under top weight on ground he wouldn't like last year."

More immediately, Mullins is concerned with getting Hedgehunter back into fast work as he continues to recover from a niggling setback. "The horse has had a sore knee, but I took him to the vet on Monday and he was happy with his progress.

"If there is a doubt about his fitness he will miss the Gold Cup and I will try and find another prep race before Aintree. He loves it around there - you just drop your hands and he starts jumping."

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has no intention of running all of his eight entries, but nominated two - Ladalko (11st 2lb and Royal Auclair (11st 5lb) - as his best chances.

WEIGHTS (Irish-trained in bold)

Exotic Dancer 7, 11-12; Hedgehunter 11, 11-12; Forget The Past 9,11-9; Fota Island 11, 11-9; Louping D'ainay 8, 11-9; Eurotrek 11, 11-8; L'ami 8, 11-8; State Of Play 7, 11-8; Ollie Magern 9, 11-7; Monkerhostin 10, 11-6; Armaturk 10, 11-5; Thisthatandtother 11, 11-5; Billyvoddan 8, 11-4; Crozan 7, 11-4; Lacdoudal 8, 11-4; Our Ben 8, 11-4; Sir Rembrandt 11, 11-4; Numbersixvalverde 11, 11-3; Southern Vic 8, 11-3; Cornish Rebel 10, 11-2; Idle Talk 8, 11-2; Ladalko 8, 11-2; Royal Auclair 10,11-1; Turpin Green 8,11-1; Cloudy Bays 10, 11-0; Knowhere 9, 10-13; Bold Bishop 10, 10-12; Kelami 9, 10-12; Point Barrow 9, 10-12; Take The Stand 11, 10-12; Celtic Son 8, 10-11; Little Brick 8, 10-11; Ned Kelly 11, 10-11; Simon 8, 10-11; Far From Trouble 8, 10-10; Ballycassidy 11, 10-9; Clan Royal 12, 10-9; Gallant Approach 8, 10-9; Livingstonebramble 11, 10-9; Dun Doire 8, 10-8; Innox 11, 10-8; Kandjar D'allier 9, 10-8; Lord Of Illusion 10, 10-8; Nirvana Du Bourg 6, 10-8; Slim Pickings 8, 10-8, Zabenz 10, 10-8; Bewleys Berry 9, 10-7; Ground Ball 10, 10-7; Longshanks 10, 10-7; Ursumman 8, 10-7; Bothar Na 8, 10-6; Graphic Approach 9,10-6; Homer Wells 9, 10-6; Liberthine 8, 10-6; Nil Desperandum 10, 10-6; Silver Birch 10, 10-6; Ossmoses 10, 10-5; Philson Run 11, 10-5; Puntal 11, 10-5; The Outlier 9, 10-5; Tikram 10, 10-5; Church Island 8, 10-4; Garvivonnian 12, 10-4; Kerstino Two 10, 10-4; Maurice 7, 10-4; Mckelvey 8, 10-4; Naunton Brook 8, 10-4; Iris Royal 11, 10-3; Jack High 12, 10-3; Kerryhead Windfarm 9, 10-3; Preacher Boy 8, 10-3; Sonevafushi 9, 10-3; Inca Trail 11, 10-02; Joes Edge 10, 10-2; Kilbeggan Blade 8, 10-2; Le Duc 8, 10-2; Risk Accessor 12, 10-2; Dunbrody Millar 9, 10-1; Kymandjen 10, 10-1; Patricksnineteenth 10, 10-1; Undeniable 9, 10-1; Without A Doubt 8, 10-1; A New Story 9, 10-0; Hakim 13, 10-0; Joueur D'estruval 10, 10-0; Lou Du Moulin Mas 8, 10-0; Sybellius D'artaix 7, 10-0; Dix Villez 8, 9-13; GVA Ireland 9, 9-13; Ivoire De Beaulieu 11, 9-13; Marble Garden 6, 9-13; Ross Comm 11, 9-13; Coljon 9, 9-12; Cowboyboots 9, 9-12; Iron Man 6, 9-12; Latimer's Place 11, 9-12; Parsons Legacy 9, 9-12; Ransboro 8, 9-12; Nitrat 6, 9-11; The Bandit 10, 9-11; Dublin Hunter 11, 9-10; Fair Prospect 11, 9-10; Just In Debt 11, 9-10; Iris Bleu 11, 9-9; Model Son 9, 9-6; Solarius 10, 9-6; Korelo 9, 9-5; Mark The Man 10, 9-3; Exit Swinger 12,9-2; Dauphin Des Carres 9, 9-1; Ride The Storm 10, 9-1; Espoir Du Bocage 12, 8-11; Shannon's Pride 11, 8-11; Theatre Knight 9, 8-11; Bang And Blame 11, 8-10;The Parishioner 9, 8-9; Heros Collonges 12, 8-6. Not qualified: Abbeytown and Iris De Balme.