AINTREE — There is one certainty in the Grand National. Whatever wins, there will be a good story to tell at the end of it.
Every horse will have a devoted groom and hard-grafting staff behind them, all enjoying the best moments of their working lives.
It might be something for the record books. The oldest this, the youngest that, the first mare since 1951, only the fourth grey ever.
A lucky winner, like Foinavon (1967), or a luckless loser, like Devon Loch (1956) and Crisp (1973), all forever rooted in Grand National folklore.
Or something to tug at the heartstrings, like Aldaniti (1981), the mended crock ridden by Bob Champion, recently recovered from cancer.
Some stories will include several of the above, notably Kitty’s Light, the chaser occasionally worked along the beaches (as was National icon Red Rum in Southport) of west Glamorgan by laid-back Christian Williams, the nearest thing to cool there is among the training ranks.
Christian and his wife Charlotte’s six-year-old daughter Betsy was diagnosed with leukaemia in early 2023 and has been undergoing extensive treatment ever since. If Kitty’s Light wins – and he has the credentials to do so – god knows how everyone will hold up amidst the celebrations.
As most will now be aware, Ireland has taken a stranglehold on jumps racing in the UK to the extent that 26 of the 34 running are trained across the water. Between them, Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott are responsible for close on half the field.
The first unofficial Grand National was run in 1836 (three years before Lottery won the first certified one), which was the same year as the Battle of the Alamo.
It’s a tenuous link, but rather apt because, like last year, Scotland’s top trainer Lucinda Russell, must feel like Davy Crockett in a racoon skin hat (as Hollywood had it anyway), trying to fend off the Mexican army with a vastly outnumbered troop.
Corach Rambler could win it again. He has a lot more to do at the weights and the ground is softer, but, like Red Rum, he jumps safely and is nimble enough to keep out of trouble. He has the street smarts.
And if he does, the story will be can he do it again? Three in a row? That would be even better than Rummy, who skipped a couple of years before his third triumph.
Aintree Grand National Festival tips, day three
- 1.20pm West Balboa (Next Best) 7-2
- 1.55pm Brighterdaysahead 15-8
- 2.30pm Crebilly 7-2
- 3.05pm Sire Du Berlais 11-2
- 4pm Grand National
- Roi Mage (Best Bet) 50-1
- Mr Incredible 14-1
- Corach Rambler 8-1
- Minella Indo 18-1
- 5pm Found A Fifty 2-1
- 5.35pm Mister Meggit 9-4
Odds correct on 12 April via Oddschecker
Mac Tottie, twice a winner over the National fences, but over a much shorter distance, joins Kitty’s Light in the Welsh brigade, while Eldorado Allen, Galia Des Liteaux, hunter chase and cross-country star Latenightpass, and mudlarks Nassalam and Chambard comprise the English squad.
If it wasn’t for Russell, who also scored with One For Arthur in 2017, Ireland would have won the last seven Grand Nationals.
And according to the bookies anyway, the main threats to Corach Rambler all come from Ireland again. It would be foolish to write off almost any of their 26.
Noble Yeats, the 2022 winner, heads the weights, another who will join the Red Rum conversation if he wins.
I Am Maximus, Meetingofthewaters and Mr Incredible are the best fancied of Mullins’ octet following satisfactory preps.
But another Grand National theme, running right through its long history, is that it’s doesn’t just belong to the big players. The smaller guys get a look-in, too, some completely unknown outside of the sport before they smash it.
Which brings me to Patrick Griffin and James Reveley.
Eight years ago, the octogenarian trainer from county Dublin and the grandson of the prolific trainer Mary Reveley teamed up to win the race preceding the National with a 50-1 shot, so they have previous on this day.
On Saturday they run Roi Mage in the main event. He’s at similar odds, but is no forlorn hope, having finished seventh in last year’s race (after jumping the last fence in third) on ground faster than ideal.
Now he’s more than a stone better off with Corach Rambler for a beating of 14 lengths, which should in theory close the gap considerably.
Both Roi Mage and Chambard (who won over these fences in the autumn) are 12-year-olds, but horses of that age do win the National from time to time and I don’t find that too off-putting.
And anyway, this is the Grand National. Shock results are in its DNA. This could be yet another tale of the unexpected.
Best bets for Saturday’s other races at Aintree
For the first time, there’s something really worth sticking around for after the Grand National, apart from swapping hard-luck stories over another drink, with Aintree staging the Grade One Maghull Novices’ Chase an hour later.
It features an intriguing clash between one of Ireland’s best young two-milers, Found A Fifty, and Dan Skelton’s exciting Etalon, making his debut in any sort of graded company after three impressive handicap wins.
Gordon Elliott’s Found A Fifty is normally the type of a horse you might want to oppose after giving his all in vain at the Cheltenham Festival, but some horses do have the constitution and temperament for it.
And though no match at all for Gaelic Warrior in the Arkle, this son of Solskjaer is a decent striker in his own right, his Grade One victory at Leopardstown on Boxing Day putting him among the best of Ireland’s rest.
What’s more, he would have won the Arkle handsomely without the outstanding Gaelic Warrior in the field, while third-placed Il Etait Temps, gave the form an almighty boost when hammering Skelton’s best novice, Grey Dawning, here on Thursday.
Skelton perhaps has better prospects of taking the opening handicap hurdle with West Balboa.
She won this race cosily last year and is back down to the same mark after a below-par winter. An eye-catching run at Kempton last time hinted an imminent return to top form.
Whatever happens to Elliott’s eight runners in the National, he should have plenty to cheer about on the supporting card with Cheltenham runner-up Brighterdaysahead looking good in the Mersey Hurdle and the remarkable veteran Sire Du Berlais bouncing back yet again to floor the favourite, Flooring Porter, in the Liverpool Hurdle.