Grand National 2026: horse-by-horse guide to all the runners

7 hours ago 9

1) I AM MAXIMUS (age 10, weight 11st 12lb)

One of two previous winners at the top of the weights, and he backed up his 2024 success by pressing Nick Rockett all the way to the Elbow 12 months ago before finally crying enough. He had shown precious few hints of his National-winning form in two runs prior to that exceptional performance under top weight and has more to recommend him this year, having finished second in a Grade One in December and then fifth in the Irish Gold Cup. In strict handicapping terms, he should probably find one or two too good, but Aintree aptitude is a serious weapon and another podium place is no forlorn hope.

Verdict: each-way hope on Aintree form but no top-weight winner since 70s

Paul Townend rides I Am Maximus to victory in the 2024 Grand National.

2) NICK ROCKETT (9yo, 11st 11lb)

The strict rules on National eligibility these days meant that even last year’s winner had to run in a chase this season to qualify for his attempt at a repeat success, and he duly booked his place in the field by finishing around seven lengths behind Gerri Colombe – also a rival today – at Down Royal last month. The exact reason for his long absence after last year’s National has never been entirely clear – “he took time to come to hand” covers plenty of bases – but he is just 4lb higher in the weights and will be in the mix if – and it has to be a significant if – he is in the same form and mood this time around.

Verdict: weighted to go close but long absence before last race a concern

3) BANBRIDGE (10yo, 11st 11lb)

Has three Grade One wins over fences to his name including the King George VI Chase at Kempton, the mid-season championship, in 2024, and he was a flared nostril away from making it four in the same race this season. Joseph O’Brien’s gelding was a long way below that form in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham festival, however, which does rather fit in with a distinctly patchy record in the best company overall, and he is also unproven at anything like this trip. “If it was three miles, I’d fancy him,” O’Brien said recently. It isn’t, and you can’t.

Verdict: top-class at best but inconsistent and unproven over long trips

4) GRANGECLARE WEST (10yo, 11st 10lb)

Ended a long losing run over fences when successful in the Bobbyjo Chase – often among the most significant National trials – in February, and while he’s a pound or two behind the best of the Grade One chasers, he was third in his first attempt at this race 12 months ago. He would have finished even closer to Nick Rockett had it not been for a costly blunder at the last, but then, the occasional iffy jump in the closing stages is becoming something of a habit. Has more weight this time too, which feels like one question mark too many.

Verdict: solid chance on last year’s third but jumping may let him down

Grangeclare West, right, ridden by Paul Townend on their way to winning the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse in February.

5) GERRI COLOMBE (10yo, 11st 10lb)

Five wins at Grade One level over fences is an exceptional career record for any chaser, never mind a horse that has been through a couple of extended breaks from racing due to injury in recent seasons. The last of those top-level successes was in the Bowl at Aintree two years ago, though, when a burden of 11st 10lb for his first start in a handicap might suggest that it was last month. In fact, his only success since April 2024 was in a weak four-runner race at Down Royal a few weeks ago, and while an earlier second behind Grangeclare West in the Bobbyjo gives him a squeak and stamina seems assured, several younger and more progressive rivals are likely to have his measure.

Verdict: has held his own against the best earlier but may struggle now

6) HAITI COULEURS (9yo, 11st 10lb)

Form figures of 1P11P so far this season might suggest that the Welsh Grand National winner has two ways of running, but his blowouts were both in Grade One events – most recently the Cheltenham Gold Cup, no less, where he led until the final run down the hill – and if it is the version of Rebecca Curtis’s chaser that posted a convincing win at Chepstow in December that turns up on Saturday, he will be a force to reckon with. Curtis coaxed him back to peak form after an even worse showing in the Betfair Chase in November, and he is a tall, powerful chaser in the old-school fashion, more than capable of lugging a big weight around two circuits of Aintree. Has an obvious chance if his trainer can work the same magic again.

Verdict: old-fashioned chaser with many Aintree assets but poor latest run

Sean Bowen riding Haiti Couleurs over the last to win the Welsh Grand National Handicap at Chepstow in December.

7) SPILLANE’S TOWER (8yo, 11st 8lb)

Left in at the final declaration stage in case the drying ground forces him to miss Thursday’s Bowl, and could bid to give Jimmy Mangan’s small family farming and training operation in County Cork a second National winner, 23 years after Monty’s Pass, his first runner at Aintree, took the great race in 2003. Another win would be astonishing given the size of Mangan’s operation, but in terms of age, form and racing weight, his latest contender has much to recommend him. Skipped the Gold Cup at Cheltenham due to unsuitably fast ground, however, and stamina for a full-on gallop over four miles is a question mark too.

Verdict: improving eight-year-old but last half-mile might find him out

8) FIREFOX (8yo, 11st 4lb)

Rarely runs a bad race despite competing in strong company throughout his career, but rarely manages to get his head in front, either. In theory, that should put him in with a chance as he gets 6lb or more from the best runners in the race, and Gordon Elliott’s gelding took his form to a new level when stepped up to three miles for the first time in the Irish Gold Cup in February. Ran well below that peak in last month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, however, when he was clearly running on empty in the final quarter-mile, and an extra mile on Saturday is highly unlikely to suit.

Verdict: didn’t stay at Cheltenham and hard to fancy over extra mile

9) MONTY’S STAR (9yo, 11st 3lb)

Like a few of the runners around the 11st mark in this year’s race, Henry de Bromhead’s nine-year-old has knocked on the door of the Grade One Winners’ Club several times, only to be told that his name’s not on the list. Did well in the circumstances to finish sixth in the Irish Gold Cup last time after going for home a long way out, but was a long way behind both Panic Attack and Three Card Brag from an identical mark on his only previous start in a handicap. Far from the most unlikely winner if everything goes his way, but not obviously over-priced at his likely odds either.

Verdict: weighted up to his best and less scope for improvement than rivals

Dylan Whelan with Monty’s Star pictured at the launch of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival in December.

10) SPANISH HARLEM (8yo, 11st 3lb)

Could be seen as potentially ahead of his mark when the weights came out in February, as he looked poised to win the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park in January – the same race that Nick Rockett landed before his National win last year - before unseating his inexperienced jockey at the final fence. Ran a shocker in the Bobbyjo next time up, however, when he was pulled up with five fences still to jump, and while they say you should always forgive one bad run, it is probably beyond even Willie Mullins’s transformative powers to engineer the bounce-back required to figure on Saturday.

Verdict: has a squeak on his best form, not a hint on his latest

11) LECKY WATSON (8yo, 11st 2lb)

In the final moments of Mick Hucknall’s mercurial debut for Fulchester United in Viz in the late 1980s, a voice in the crowd points out that “in a bizarre recreation of his musical career, Mick Hucknall from Simply Red’s considerable early promise has been followed up by a series of lacklustre disappointments”. It has been a similar story for Lecky Watson in his time over fences: a Grade One win last season, but one poor run after another in the current campaign, and while he is still the right side of nine years old, it would take a huge turnaround in form to put him in the frame.

Verdict: long way below his strong novice form in all four starts this season

12) CHAMP KIELY (10yo, 11st 1lb)

A Grade One winner over both hurdles and fences, and still lightly-raced for a 10-year-old chaser having been off the track for nearly two years before his fencing debut in January last year. So far, so promising, but there is nothing at all in his form to date that suggests this big step up in trip is what he needs. Quite the opposite, in fact, as his stamina visibly expired before the final fence in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown in February.

Verdict: useful at best but cut no slack on handicap debut

Danny Mullins rides Champ Kiely to victory in the Champion Novice Chase at Punchestown in April last year.

13) IROKO (8yo, 11st 1lb)

After a decade of almost unbroken humiliation at the hands of their Irish counterparts, British jumps stables staged a major fightback at Cheltenham last month and a two-pronged challenge from the yard of Olly Greenall and Josh Guerriero will attempt to extend the revival to Aintree. There is little to choose between this one and Jagwar on their overall form to date and his fourth place behind Nick Rockett 12 months ago was a fine first spin around the track. His latest run at Cheltenham, though, was less encouraging, and he has 11 runs over fences against his stable companion’s eight, which might just be enough to tip the stable bragging rights Jagwar’s way.

Verdict: clear chance on last year’s form but latest showing not ideal

14) FAVORI DE CHAMPDOU (11yo, 11st 1lb)

Eleven-year-olds enjoyed a golden spell in this race from 2012 to 2014 with three straight victories, but their record since is a truly miserable zero-from-83, which suggests that the regular tweaks to the fences and conditions over the past decade have heavily favoured youth over experience. That said, however, Gordon Elliott’s gelding will arrive at Aintree in the form of his life, having taken an ultra-competitive handicap chase in December (at odds of 66-1, no less), before two excellent runs in cross-country handicaps at Cheltenham. Elliott used the same route through the Cross Country at Cheltenham to prep his three previous winners – Silver Birch and Tiger Roll, twice – so it would be rash to rule this one out solely on account of his age.

Verdict: too old on trends but is following trainer’s tried-and-tested path

15) THREE CARD BRAG (9yo, 11st 0lb)

Back for another crack after finishing 11th last year, and a sound jumper whose consistency is beyond reproach. It takes more than mere consistency to win a National, however, and he simply failed to see it out after racing close to the pace for much of the way 12 months ago. Since he is 10lb higher in the weights this time around, improvement is needed just to stand still and there is no obvious reason why it might be forthcoming.

Verdict: didn’t stay last time and likely set for mid-division anonymity

Three Card Brag, ridden by Jordan Gainford, in the Intermediate Handicap Chase at Newbury last Novermber.

16) OSCARS BROTHER (8yo, 10st 13lb)

It could be argued, with some justification, that there is a distinct lack of romance in a modern National. Where are the homespun stories, the against-all-odds surprises, or a Velvet Brown for the 21^st century? Well, here’s one runner with “film adaptation” scribbled all over him, or Netflix mini-series at the very least. He is 50pc of the entire string at 29-year-old Connor King’s County Tipperary stable, will be ridden by ridden by the trainer’s younger brother, Daniel, and was picked out at the sales, for a bargain-basement price, by their dad. The backstory alone will attract plenty of interest, but his form suggests a big run too, as he is a young, progressive novice with every chance of improving for the step up in trip. Nit-pickers might say that he could have shown a little more when fourth in a Grade One novice at the festival last month, but his overall profile is highly positive for a modern-day National.

Verdict: great backstory, and his form and profile are not too shabby, either

17) MR VANGO (10yo, 10st 12lb)

Would have been the pick of the weights 12 months ago had he not narrowly missed the cut after reeling off several impressive strong-staying victories, and he would be a hugely popular winner for trainer Sara Bradstock, whose father, the amateur rider and broadcaster Lord Oaksey, finished second aboard Carrickbeg in 1963. Needs significant cut in the ground to show his best form, however, and while his latest mark is now more than high enough to guarantee a run, it may also be too high to be a winning one.

Verdict: popular front-runner, needs it softer and has plenty of weight

Mr Vango leads the charge in the London National Handicap Chase at Sandown Park in December.

18) HIGH CLASS HERO (9yo, 10st 11lb)

Sent off favourite for a big handicap chase at Sandown in April 2025 on only his fourth start over fences and looked set for a rewarding campaign when second on his return to action at Punchestown in November. His form since has fallen off a cliff, however, and he arrives at Aintree with a longish list of questions to answer having been pulled up two races in a row. Faded rapidly after a mistake four out at Naas in March and something similar is likely on Saturday, quite possibly at a much earlier stage.

Verdict: needs major revival and more, “PP” is not National-winning form

19) STELLAR STORY (9yo, 10st 11lb)

Highly tried since finishing a close second in a Grade One novice at Cheltenham in March 2025, having set off at double-figure odds for three Grade Ones and a Grade Three and run pretty much in line with the betting market’s expectations each time. That will not have made for an easy assessment when the handicapper was setting the weights and he has the frame and pedigree of a potential improver at marathon trips, so appeals as one of the likelier second-season chasers to have crept in a pound or two light.

Verdict: strike-rate unimpressive but good racing weight if stays trip

20) BEAUPORT (10yo, 10st 11lb)

Has had just three trips to the races since finishing 12th last year and two of those were over hurdles, a clear sign that his dual National-winning stable has been targeting this return to Aintree all year. He went out like a snuffed candle after racing too close to the pace 12 months ago, however, and has shown few – correction, no – signs of being anywhere close to a return to peak form in his recent outings.

Verdict: needs a career-best to figure and nowhere near it so far this season

21) CAPTAIN CODY (8yo, 10st 10lb)

No doubting his stamina or talent, as he took the Scottish Grand National as a novice last year on just his fifth start over fences. Has struggled to go on from there in the current season, though, and made an early exit in the Thyestes at Gowran in January when sent off favourite under a big weight. Less lead in the saddle on Saturday but has rarely seemed to be in the conversation around Willie Mullins’s major chances and looks summed up by his handicap mark.

Verdict: time on his side but big win in 2025 means a big weight in his saddle

Captain Cody, ridden by Harry Cobden, on his way to winning the Scottish Grand National last year.

22) JAGWAR (7yo, 10st 10lb)

The second prong in the Greenall/Guierro challenge is a year younger than Iroko and has 5lb less weight to carry despite finishing a long way in front of his stable companion on identical terms in the Ultima Handicap Chase at Cheltenham. The excellent Mark Walsh maintains the partnership and that form, on just his eighth start over fences, suggests that he could still be some way ahead of his current mark. Tends to make the odd mistake along the way but the fences are more forgiving these days, while track and trip seem sure to suit. Iroko went close with a very similar profile last year and the latest seven-year-old challenger from the stable could have even more up his sleeve.

Verdict: young, well-weighted and improving. Ideal profile for National now

23) PERCEVAL LEGALLOIS (9yo, 10st 9lb)

Set off as a 10-1 chance 12 months ago with Mark Walsh, the owner’s No 1 rider, holding the reins, but failed to get past Valentine’s on the first circuit having jumped soundly enough to that point. Has clearly been campaigned with a return to this race in mind ever since, but his form in two starts this season – pulled up when 40-1 for the Coral Gold Cup and then fourth of seven in a Grade Three – is hardly encouraging all the same.

Verdict: fancied last year but one of three fallers and not in the same form

24) GORGEOUS TOM (8yo, 10st 9lb)

The days when a 40-runner Grand National had a smattering of definitely-maybes and a whole host of definitely-nots are long gone, and Henry de Bromhead’s runner is just one among at least half of the 34-strong field that could outrun a working person’s price. He is the right age – like four of the last eight winners – and has big-field experience when fourth in the Coral Gold Cup in November, on just his second start outside novice company. That performance can be marked up as he lost several lengths at a standing start, and his National-winning trainer has plenty of previous when it comes to getting a horse right on the day that matters.

Verdict: young, improving and from top stable, intriguing each-way chance

25) THE REAL WHACKER (10yo, 10st 9lb)

One of the few British-trained horses to register a Grade One win at the Cheltenham festival in recent years when he short-headed Gerri Colombe in the three-mile novice chase, but has struggled to recapture that form in 13 starts since and it hints at his decline that he has 15lb less to carry than Gordon Elliott’s runner on Saturday. Has failed to beat a single opponent in either of his last two starts and while there might be a couple of slower rivals on Saturday, he is odds-on to be closer to last than first.

Verdict: top-class novice but his best days seem to be behind him now

26) QUAI DE BOURBON (7yo, 10st 9lb)

The ninth and final member of the Willie Mullins battalion, and like many a runner in this year’s race, there is a single, standout piece of form on his record that gives him a shout. In his case, it is a 10-length third behind Haiti Couleurs in last year’s Irish Grand National when he was just six years old, and he can re-oppose Rebecca Curtis’s runner on 22lb better terms on Saturday. On the other hand, he has more letters than numbers in his form line since his last win in January 2025, which is rarely a good sign, though he did seem to improve for the addition of some blinkers when dropped back in trip at Leopardstown last time.

Verdict: low-profile member of Mullins squad, needs to return to best

Quai De Bourbon on his way to winning the Beginners Chase at Gowran Park in January.

27) ANSWER TO KAYF (10yo, 10st 8lb)

A dubious stayer despite a marked preference for heavy ground, and always prone to a mistake or three along the way. Finished fourth of nine behind three of today’s rivals in the Bobbyjo Chase, which is often a decent Aintree trial, but realistically the only box he ticks for a well-run Grand National on spring ground is the one marked “none of the above”.

Verdict: stamina, going and jumping doubts, unlikely to be thereabouts

28) JORDANS (7yo, 10st 8lb)

Joseph O’Brien has two runners this year as he bids to become the first trainer ever to win the two biggest handicaps on the planet – the Grand National over jumps, and the Melbourne Cup on the Flat – and while Banbridge is undoubtedly the classier of the pair, this one is arguably better suited to the task at hand. Posted the best performance of his career when second in the Grade One novice chase at this meeting last year and looks sure to appreciate a step up in trip, though he was a little underwhelming when only 11thof 16 runners at Leopardstown last time.

Verdict: trip and ground should suit but this might be a year too soon

29) FINAL ORDERS (10yo, 10st 5lb)

Has found a fresh lease of life since a switch to cross-country events last year and saw off the challenge of Favori De Champdou to land the Cross-Country Chase at Cheltenham last March. That has been a stepping-stone to Aintree success several times in recent seasons, the obvious caveat being that it is essentially a race for older horses and specialists, and the National feels like an event for younger, improving runners these days. With 28 chase starts to his name and 42 more over hurdles and on the Flat, Gavin Cromwell’s 10-year-old is not, by any stretch of the imagination, one of those.

Verdict: thriving but vulnerable to quicker contenders

Connor Stone-Walsh on Final Orders lead over the Cheese Wedges fences on their way to winning the Cross-Country Steeplechase at Cheltenham earlier this year.

30) MARBLE SANDS (10yo, 10st 5lb)

Well beaten in the Topham over a circuit and a bit of the National course at this meeting last year, but steps up to the big one after showing somewhat unexpected stamina to win over three-and-a-half miles at Cheltenham in November. Also went close in a Flat race at Goodwood last summer but his form over jumps remains a long way short of what is likely to be needed on Saturday.

Verdict: versatile but basically making up the numbers

31) PANIC ATTACK (10yo, 10st 5lb)

Dan Skelton’s mare already has one rare achievement to her name having completed a double in the two biggest handicap chases in the first part of the season, but an even sterner challenge awaits on Saturday as no mare has won the National since Nickel Coin in 1951, and just three have done so since the turn of the 20^th century. Few mares have lined up with as strong a chance on the book as this one, though, and having spent much of her career racing between two and two-and-a-half miles, she fairly powered away from her field in the three-and-a-quarter mile Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in November. Her trainer is all but sure to be crowned Britain’s champion regardless of what happens on Saturday, but if her stamina extends to another mile, a big chunk of prize money is not out of the question.

Verdict: stamina a concern but decent chance to match Nickel Coin feat

32) TOP OF THE BILL (10yo, 10st 5lb)

Showed plenty of stamina to stay on again into second in the Grand National Trial at Haydock in February, but tends to come up short in better company and has been known to down tools when he is not on a going day. One of just a handful in the 34-runner field that can be ruled out with confidence.

Verdict: plodder who will be run off his feet by the youngsters

33) JOHNNYWHO (9yo, 10st 4lb)

Closely matched with Jagwar on their form when first and second respectively in the Ultima Handicap Chase at Cheltenham last month, when his success coincided with a welcome upturn in the fortunes of the Jonjo and AJ O’Neill stable. Handicapped to go very close if he can run to the same level over Saturday’s much longer trip, though it does nag away just a little that he emptied between the final two fences in the Irish Grand National last year.

Verdict: big chance if stays but Irish National form last year is a worry

Richie McLernon rides Johnnywho to victory at this year’s Cheltenham Festival.

34) TWIG (11yo, 10st 4lb)

The second British-trained runner across the line last year, though such was the dominance of the Irish that it was good enough only for 12th place overall. Will pick up an additional £500k bonus if he can follow up his win over these fences in the Becher Chase in December, but there is no obvious reason why he should fare any better this time around.

Verdict: winner in lesser company, won’t see which way these rivals go

Reserves*

1) PIED PIPER (8yo, 10st 3lb)

It is probably fair to say that the late Queen Elizabeth II was dreaming of a Classic winner on the Flat when she sent her mare, Pure Fantasy, to the 2008 Derby winner, New Approach, in the spring of 2017. Breeding thoroughbreds, however, is an inexact science at the best of times, and nine years later, the result of that liaison is about to line up for the world’s most famous steeplechase. His regal origins are likely to remain his only major claim to fame on Saturday evening, though, as he arrives off the back of falls in his last two races and was going nowhere fast when he exited at the 21^st in the cross-country event at Cheltenham last month.

Verdict: impeccable pedigree but for the Derby, not the National

2) IMPERIAL SAINT (8yo, 10st 2lb)

Excuses when eighth behind Johnnywho in the Ultima but needs a big dollop of luck just to make it to the start.

3) AMIRITE (10yo, 10st 2lb)

Decent stayer at the right level but this isn’t it, and little chance that he will make it into the final field.

4) AIN’T THAT A SHAME (12yo, 10st 2lb)

An example of nominative determination in action as his decline since finishing sixth behind I Am Maximus two years ago means he is highly unlikely to get a run.