The announcement of the John Smith's Grand National weights has given racing plenty to talk about in the build up to the big race on 4 April.

The weights were revealed at a special lunch in London hosted by the BBC's Clare Balding at the Park Lane Sheraton Hotel.

She was in top form and, for starters, lavished praise on Tony McCoy's achievement of reaching 3,000 winners.

Balding then invited National winning jockey Mick Fitzgerald to give his views on the big race and introduced the former jockey as the "new At The Races, BBC, Channel 4 presenter, well, anyone that will pay him".

Fitzgerald saw the funny side and was soon revealing that he thought the Evan Williams-trained State Of Play looked attractively weighted on 10st 8lb.

Next up was BHA handicapper Phil Smith who had to hastily reframe the weights following the last minute withdrawal of ante-post favourite Denman.

He admitted that Willie Mullins's Snowy Morning caused him the most trouble when framing the weights. Mullins, who failed to reveal his No1 Cheltenham Bumper contender when asked, was far from complimentary about the handicapper when questioned by the BBC's Rishi Persad shortly afterwards.

Radio Five Live's Cornelius Lysaght then asked Jackdaws Castle trainer Jonjo O'Neill about the merits of Butler's Cabin, who has got in off an attractive weight of 10st 5lb.

Soon after, trainer Charlie Mann was under the Lysaght interrogation. But it was soon apparent that no one knew why. Mann has two contenders for the Aintree showpiece but, from the start, continually told the BBC man that Air Force One was 12 months away from going for the race and that his second string Nadover had little chance of getting into the final field of 40.

Lysaght thanked Mann for being interviewed and looked forward to him being invited back in a year's time "even if it was just to have lunch".

Stars of the show were Charles Egerton who revealed that two of his three entries - Hobbs Hill and Darkness - had had wind operations and that he was thinking of having one himself and the comedy duo that is Nigel Twiston-Davies and Philip Hobbs. Twiston-Davies was accused of knocking his rival over and dislocating his shoulder on the ski slopes recently while Hobbs revealed that NTD doesn't hold back in telling him that he has two National winners to his none - including when What's Up Boys was run out of it by Bindaree in 2002.

Persad, who tried all he knew in an attempt to chat up trainer Venetia Williams, was soon asking Irish trainer Tom Mullins what he would do if he was stuck in a lavatory with Smith and Irish handicapper Noel O'Brien after being less than impressed with Chelsea Harbour's weight of 11 stone. Mullins quite simply said: "I can't imagine being in that situation."

But what were the clues to be garnered? David Pipe quite fancies Comply Or Die for a repeat victory once he puts the blinkers back on despite the fact that the horse was the only one he didn't mention at this stage 12 months ago; Willie Mullins would be keen on Irish Invader if she got a run and Rishi's still trying with Venetia as far as we know.