2026 Grand National

[Lobos]

I've backed Spillanes Tower today at 33's with him being confirmed for the race. Cobden was booked to ride him in the Gold Cup before he was pulled so I fully expect him to be on board at Aintree for JP.

 

[Eggs]

….i know we’re a few weeks off but quite a bit of rain up here in Liverpool these last few days.

 

[Killiney]

….i know we’re a few weeks off but quite a bit of rain up here in Liverpool these last few days.

Now is The Hour will love every drop!

 

[Eggs]

Now is The Hour will love every drop!

….funny enough, used that free bet offer with Hills at the weekend on Spanish Harlem @66-1 (his owner sponsors the race);

He was a length up when falling at the last in the Thyestes Chase won by Now is The Hour. Mullins has mentioned Grand National for SH since the pre-season stable tour and he won the Kerry National in September.

‘Spanish Harlem was fourth in the Bet365 Gold Cup and has improved since, putting in a career-best performance when winning the Kerry National. He’s one for the big staying chases, possibly the Coral Gold Cup in Newbury. Being owned by Peter Fitzgerald, I’d imagine we’ll have the Grand National in the back of our mind. It’s taken him a bit of time to acclimatise but has finally come right for us.’

 

[Eggs]

• 20 / 20 (72%) - Break of 22 - 350 days (Last Place)
• 20 / 20 (76%) - Not in a G2/Cl3-4/Cl6 (LTO)
• 20 / 20 (78%) - Had 1 - 5 placings (1 Year)
• 20 / 20 (81%) - Ran in 3 - 10 races (Season)
• 20 / 20 (82%) - Not BB/BL/CH in colour
• 20 / 20 (85%) - Achieved an RPR of 136+ (Season)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Ran in 7 - 27 races (Chase)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Fewer than 2 placings (Course)
• 20 / 20 (87%) - Ran over 1m5½f - 3m½f (Debut)
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Off a break of 20 - 83 days
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Ran in 2 - 6 races (180 Days)
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Fewer than 5 wins (Hcps)
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Beaten no more -23l (Debut)
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Carried 141 - 170lbs (Debut)
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Not in a Cl3/Cl5-6 (Last Win)
• 20 / 20 (89%) - No bigger than 14/1 (Last Win)
• 19 / 20 (84%) - Held an OR of 137+ (LTO)
• 19 / 20 (86%) - Won within last 9 starts
• 18 / 20 (64%) - Achieved an RPR of 150+ (Hcps)
• 18 / 20 (82%) - Not fallen (Season)

6 of the last 7 winners came from 3 races;
XC Chase
Ultima Chase
Bobbyjo Chase

 

[Hurricane fly]

Think Gerri hits every one of the 20/20, might hit all of them

 

[Luke95]

Saw an interesting stat on X from Paul Jones (does the ATR stats guides) that 7 of the last 18 winners, and 3 who finished 2nd, were officially ‘well in’ at the weights.

Of the 7 winners, 6 were at least 5lb ‘well in’. Only two meet that this year, Jagwar (5lb) and Johnnywho (6lb).

Stellar Story (2lb) and Quai De Bourbon (1lb) are the only others to be ‘well in’ this year.

 

[Benjy23]

Final Orders must be isn't he?

 

[Hurricane fly]

I think Stellar Story has a right chance, based on the BobbyJo he has a 20lb swing with GCW for a 14lb loss and a 20lb swing vs Gerri for a 9 length loss.

He's a strong stayer who brings top notch Cheltenham form (appreciate it's a different course etc. but he performs on the big stage was the point)

 

[Luke95]

Final Orders must be isn't he?

Did think that when I saw the post but his IHRB rating hasn’t changed from what I can see, even though other Irish runners from Chelt have new marks. He got a BHA performance rating of 157 so if BHA republish his mark can assume it’ll be around that, but at the minute his highest ‘official’ mark is still the BHA 147.

 

[Eggs]

……with under two weeks to go, plenty of heavy and prolonged rain here in Liverpool today.

 

[Eggs]

….for @Lobos

Joe Tizzard has given Alexei the green light to step up in trip in a bid to open his Grade One account in next month’s William Hill Aintree Hurdle.

The progressive six-year-old will spearhead a strong team for the Grade One-winning trainer at the Randox Grand National Festival at the Merseyside venue.

It has so far been a season to savour for the Brocade Racing-owned Alexei, who has secured three wins from six starts including the Unibet Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Grade Two BetMGM Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton.

And on the back of watching the son Tai Chi finish fourth in the Unibet Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, Milborne Port handler Tizzard hopes he can better that effort in the £250,000 contest on April 9.

Tizzard said: “We are going to step Alexei up to two and a half miles in the Aintree Hurdle as he has come out of Cheltenham well. The other option was Punchestown, but we have decided on this race instead.

“He travels well and he won a maiden hurdle over two miles and three furlongs at Taunton on his first start for us.

“He galloped through the line in those handicaps so hopefully he should be fine over the trip on a flat track.

“I will probably leave him over hurdles next season and give him a prep run on the flat and have him right for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle.”

 

[Lobos]

Cheers Eggs. Such a shame he made that bad mistake at the last where he lost his back legs completely. I feel he'd definitely had been 3rd without that error. 4th place was hard to take.

 

[archie]

While there has been a fair amount of rain, it has also been quite windy so, with the good grass growing conditions the last few weeks, I'd expect decent ground at Aintree when they give a going report later this week. While there's no official report on the going as yet, this page on the racecourse site also gives an up to date picture of rainfall, wind etc.

Loading…

www.thejockeyclub.co.uk

 

[Craigy14]

The one I liked the look of was Quai de bourbon. Looking at his recent runs isn’t great but he was third in the Irish national with PT onboard as a 6 year old. Now seven he bounced back to some sort of form when third at Xmas.

He’s another I’m not sure if being aimed at Irish or UK national. He ran off 148 in the Irish national last year, only up 4lbs to 152. Uk national he’ll run off 151.

 

[Eggs]

….a few Topham fancies from ATRs Gary Nutting;

RECOMMENDED BETS (SCALE 1-5 POINTS):​

RANDOX TOPHAM HANDICAP CHASE, AINTREE, FRIDAY 10 APRIL​

1 pt win ILE ATLANTIQUE (16-1 bet365, 14-1 general)
1 pt win COMING UP EASY (20-1 general)


Wet again this morning but it’s been very windy up here in Liverpool. Dry this afternoon but overcast again now.

 

[Benjy23]

He'll definitely not jump ship. Casey reckons IAM is Willie's best chance as well.

"Somebody asked me the other day who I'd be riding and whether there was a decision to be made, and my response was — in these big races, there's always a decision to be made”


“I Am Maximus gave me one of my greatest days in the saddle here two years ago, but there wouldn't be much between him and Grangeclare West on the face of it, so you really have to try and take sentiment out of it”

“It’s probably a decision that I’ll leave as late as possible, as I’d say the ground will have a big bearing on it,” he added. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves, though, and we just have to try and get both horses to Aintree fit and firing. If we can do that, then they both go there with big chances once again.”

 

[Hurricane fly]

Whoever he chooses will go off favourite won't it?

 

[Lobos]

He's just being clever. If he said to JP that he'd ride IAM now and closer to the race he wasn't working great then he'd have a bit of a predicament.
Sounds like he'd only ride GW if it came up deep?

 

[Faugheen_Machine]

Anyone got a strong opinion on the Topham?

Madara is going to be popular given his win at Cheltenham and I'm not sure the weight rise will be enough to stop him.

At a big price, I like O'Moore Park who finished 6th in the Plate. He's still a maiden over fences but has run some nice races this season, finishing behind Oscars Brother and 5th in the PP Chase at Christmas. He lost his position in the Plate and was forced wide round the last bend but finished quite strongly - caught my eye anyway. He has an entry in the Irish National so isn't a betting proposition at the moment.