Randox Grand National
Grade 3 Handicap,
Aintree 16:00
£1,000,000 guaranteed
7yo plus, 4m 2f 74y, Class 1   
Saturday 11th April 2026

The old racing maxim tells us that trends are there to be broken, but occasionally they demand to be respected. The Bobbyjo Chase, once a useful stepping stone, has become the kingpin trial for the Randox Grand National, and when Grangeclare West surged clear at Fairyhouse he did more than win a Grade 3 – he assumed the mantle.

The baton has been passed seamlessly. In 2024 it was I Am Maximus who completed the Bobbyjo–National double. In 2025 Nick Rockett followed suit. Roll the clock back two decades and Hedgehunter did the same. Now Grangeclare West attempts to extend that sequence and provide Willie Mullins with yet another Aintree triumph in a race he has made increasingly his own.

Last year’s National third, unlucky in running and arguably still travelling as well as anything when making that decisive error at the final fence, returned to Fairyhouse seeking both redemption and confirmation. He achieved both. Despite a shuddering blunder at the last – the sort that empties many a petrol tank – he picked himself up, reorganised and powered five and a half lengths clear of Gerri Colombe. It was not merely the authority of the victory but the manner of it that resonated.

Paul Townend, recording a fifth success in the Bobbyjo, allowed him to drop out early as they went hard on ground that was looser than ideal for a horse who does his best work when the mud is flying in April sunshine. “He’s a class animal,” Townend observed, and the phrase fits. He travelled in that comfort zone all jockeys crave, popped away with efficiency and, crucially, showed the resilience that Aintree demands when getting out of trouble at the last.

Bookmakers were swift to react. Paddy Power halved his odds into 10-1. He is set to carry 11st 10lb off a mark of 166, 3lb higher than last year, but that rise feels more acknowledgement than punishment. The National is rarely won by a well-handicapped secret; more often it is claimed by a horse of proven Grade 1 calibre capable of absorbing a weight in the mid-11s. Grangeclare West fits that mould.

Yet no National preview is complete without context. The Bobbyjo was run at level weights and on paper the form aligned with expectation. Gerri Colombe, clinging to the remnants of his lofty rating from two seasons ago, emerged from a year’s absence over Christmas and has improved with each run. Gordon Elliott was understandably encouraged by this effort and a tilt at Aintree beckons. On handicap terms the rematch narrows the gap.

More intriguing still is Stellar Story. Third at Fairyhouse, he raced in first-time blinkers and, for the first time in 12 months, enjoyed something like his optimum conditions. A less-than-fluent leap at the second-last cost him momentum and he would have finished closer but for that error. He will be 21lb better off with Grangeclare West and Gerri Colombe at Aintree, and if Liverpool receives a wet week his claims at around 40-1 are far from fanciful. Younger legs, proven stamina and the promise of further improvement make him a fascinating subplot.

Lecky Watson, another second-season chaser, was similarly poorly treated under a 12lb penalty and never threatened, but he is a Grade 1 winner who shapes as though a long-distance handicap on a sounder surface could yet reveal more.

The wider narrative centres, inevitably, on Mullins. Fourteen entries at the five-day stage is not so much a squad as a battalion. Townend, already a National-winning rider aboard I Am Maximus, faces the sort of selection headache trainers dream of. The pecking order may crystallise after Cheltenham, but for now Grangeclare West has edged to the front of the queue.

What of the demands of Aintree itself? The modern National, compressed weights and spruce-topped fences notwithstanding, still asks the same timeless questions: can you travel, can you jump, can you stay, and can you find again after a mistake? Grangeclare West answered three emphatically at Fairyhouse and the fourth when recovering from that last-fence error.

Entitled to win? Perhaps. About the right price at 10-1? Arguably so. But the Bobbyjo has become more than a trial; it has become a signpost. And when a horse of proven class, with unfinished business over the big fences, arrives on the back of a commanding display and with history whispering encouragement, it is not merely form we are weighing but momentum.

In a race where chaos is guaranteed and certainty elusive, Grangeclare West has done all that could be asked. The question now is whether the Fairyhouse flame can be carried to Aintree’s furnace and whether the Bobbyjo’s golden thread remains unbroken for a third successive year.

Randox Health Grand National
Grade 3, £1,000,000 guaranteed
7yo plus, 4m 2f 74y, Class 1
75 remaining entries
Going:

NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY (form as of Feb 21)
1 82-925 I Am Maximus 10 11-12 W P Mullins
2 /4111- Nick Rockett 9 11-11 W P Mullins
3 17-442 Banbridge 10 11-11 Joseph Patrick O'Brien
4 5-8481 Grangeclare West 10 11-10 W P Mullins
5 P12-13 Grey Dawning 9 11-10 Dan Skelton
6 /3-P32 Gerri Colombe 10 11-10 Gordon Elliott
7 1-1P11 Haiti Couleurs 9 11-10 Rebecca Curtis
8 5-2931 Spillane's Tower 8 11-8 James Joseph Mangan
9 1P-222 L'Homme Presse 11 11-8 Venetia Williams
10 131-B1 Impaire Et Passe 8 11-5 W P Mullins
11 62-124 Firefox 8 11-4 Gordon Elliott
12 4-3056 Monty's Star 9 11-3 Henry De Bromhead
13 -11PUP Spanish Harlem 8 11-3 W P Mullins
14 /4333- Gentlemansgame 10 11-3 M F Morris
15 -F77P8 Lecky Watson 8 11-2 W P Mullins
16 -12S57 Champ Kiely 10 11-1 W P Mullins
17 111132 Western Fold 7 11-1 Gordon Elliott
18 424-21 Iroko 8 11-1 Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero
19 5/51-4 Flooring Porter 11 11-1 Gavin Cromwell
20 -05F11 Favori De Champdou 11 11-1 Gordon Elliott
21 -82127 Three Card Brag 9 11-0 Gordon Elliott
22 -22111 Oscars Brother 8 10-13 Connor King
23 1P-243 Handstands 7 10-13 Ben Pauling
24 11-2PP Mr Vango 10 10-12 Mrs Sara V Bradstock
25 41-102 Resplendent Grey 8 10-11 Olly Murphy
26 123-2P High Class Hero 9 10-11 W P Mullins
27 2-3383 Stellar Story 9 10-11 Gordon Elliott
28 2136-2 Better Days Ahead 8 10-11 Gordon Elliott
29 U-F328 Ile Atlantique 8 10-11 W P Mullins
30 20-4P4 Beauport 10 10-11 Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies
31 0-2312 French Dynamite 11 10-10 E McNamara
32 1-37F5 Captain Cody 8 10-10 W P Mullins
33 311-32 Jagwar 7 10-10 Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero
34 11F-P4 Perceval Legallois 9 10-9 Gavin Cromwell
35 44-424 Gorgeous Tom 8 10-9 Henry De Bromhead
36 54-256 The Real Whacker 10 10-9 Patrick Neville
37 UB3-PP Quai De Bourbon 7 10-9 W P Mullins
38 0-6144 Answer To Kayf 10 10-8 Terence O'Brien
39 52-85P Jordans 7 10-8 Joseph Patrick O'Brien
40 7-3330 Croke Park 8 10-8 Gordon Elliott
41 P-3841 Now Is The Hour 9 10-7 Gavin Cromwell
42 -21P0P Blizzard Of Oz 8 10-7 W P Mullins
43 -38PP6 Intense Raffles 8 10-6 Thomas Gibney
44 3P6315 Final Orders 10 10-5 Gavin Cromwell
45 250-12 Marble Sands 10 10-5 David Killahena & Graeme McPherson
46 12-111 Panic Attack 10 10-5 Dan Skelton
47 P1-192 Top Of The Bill 10 10-5 Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies
48 1-1P23 Leave Of Absence 9 10-4 Anthony Honeyball
49 562415 Blaze The Way 8 10-4 Ms Margaret Mullins
50 770-11 Twig 11 10-4 Ben Pauling
51 25-535 Johnnywho 9 10-4 Jonjo & A J O'Neill
52 P64-0P Stolen Silver 11 10-3 Georgina Nicholls
53 0-022P Search For Glory 9 10-3 Gordon Elliott
54 32569F Pied Piper 8 10-3 Gordon Elliott
55 42-561 Imperial Saint 8 10-2 Philip Hobbs & Johnson White
56 4-P140 Amirite 10 10-2 Henry De Bromhead
57 /9P16/ Ain't That A Shame 12 10-2 T Ellis
58 9622P6 Yeah Man 9 10-1 Gavin Cromwell
59 29-U45 Soul Icon 9 10-1 Keiran Burke
60 2P-974 Hyland 9 10-1 Nicky Henderson
61 2P-3P0 Harry Des Ongrais 9 10-1 Henry De Bromhead
62 11-F4P Myretown 9 10-0 Lucinda Russell & Michael Scudamore
63 1-1150 Deep Cave 8 9-13 Christian Williams
64 P6-P57 Monbeg Genius 10 9-13 Jonjo & A J O'Neill
65 0-2050 O'Moore Park 9 9-13 W P Mullins
66 -U1591 Pic Roc 8 9-13 Ben Pauling
67 7-66P4 Buddy One 9 9-12 Paul John Gilligan
68 225-20 Mister Coffey 11 9-12 Nicky Henderson
69 -1U848 Anyway 8 9-11 David Kenneth Budds
70 F5-P43 The Short Go 9 9-10 Henry De Bromhead
71 44-420 Weveallbeencaught 9 9-9 E McNamara
72 -7020P Will Do 9 9-9 Gordon Elliott
73 0P-10P Shanbally Kid 9 9-9 W P Mullins
74 136-33 In d'Or 8 9-7 Fergal O'Brien
75 15-234 Deafening Silence 9 9-6 Dan Skelton
 NR 1B2-21 Appreciate It 12 11-4 W P Mullins NON-RUNNER
NR 221135 Paggane 7 10-5 Faye Bramley NON-RUNNER
NR 272777 Beaufort Scale 7 - Gordon Elliott Not Qualified

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