THE Martell Grand National, dramatic even when it's not run, takes on an even more unpredictable face today with Saturday's abandoned race due to start at the rescheduled time of 5.0 p.m. The decision to go ahead was taken by the Aintree course executive at noon yesterday after prolonged discussions with the police.

The added ingredient of the race this time is the uncertainty about how the horses have reacted to the confusion that prevailed on Saturday and how it will affect their performance. Many of them sweated up and fretted when left unattended at the height of the bomb scare which is hardly the preparation their trainers had in mind for them.

Already, Belmont King and Over The Stream have been scratched from the field and although the ante-post favourite Suny Bay will line up after earlier doubts over the ground, trainer Charlie Brooks said yesterday: "We would be really unlucky to damage him on the ground but I don't think he'll win on it."

The main Irish hopes, Wylde Hide and Antonin, will also definitely run despite the drying ground. Arthur Moore reports his three runners to be fine after being moved to different stables on Saturday night and Antonin will today travel from Yorkshire where he was temporarily based.

For trainers who have calculated the timing of their horses preparation to the hour, the combination of travelling and disruption is not ideal but some horses will react to it better than others and Dextra Dove, our original selection for the race, is one of those. A laid back, phlegmatic animal at the best of times, Dextra Dove has hardly turned a hair in the midst of all the commotion.

His trainer Simon Earle moved Dextra Dove to Haydock where he has been riding him out. The horse had reacted positively to the unique Aintree atmosphere before Saturday, looking far more lively than his usual lazy self but Earle says that away from the track he has reverted to type.

However, the fact that Dextra Dove did seem to be invigorated by Aintree is a positive sign and so is the drying out ground on which he is a proven performer. Much of the grass on the course, which had been unusually long, was compacted by the crowds leaving on Saturday which will place even more emphasis on a horse's ability to act on a fastish surface.

Most of Dextra Dove's 19 career victories have been on this type of ground and Earle said yesterday: "He goes on any ground but on firm going some of the others won't like it as much."

One of those others must be Wylde Hide but only the insanely confident would drop him from their calculations. Wylde Hide will act on the ground but it's hard to escape the feeling that his chance would have been even more obvious with some give in it.

Stable companion Feathered Gale in contrast will love the ground as will the Cheltenham Gold Cup fourth Go Ballistic and Avro Anson. However much Go Ballistic has improved though, Dextra Dove still looked to have him beaten when Go Ballistic fell in Sandown's Agfa Chase.

Dextra Dove is now three times Go Ballistic's price and while his two runs since then were disappointing, Earle has provided valid excuses for them and the confidence he had in his horse pre-Saturday has not waned. Dextra Dove does look the value each-way bet of a remarkable 1997 Grand National. Wylde Hide and Avro Anson are speculatively suggested to also figure at. the finish.