Grand National horses from Ireland

Considering what he has ultimately achieved, it seems amazing that it took Hewick twelve races under Rules before he recorded his first victory. That first success came in a handicap hurdle at Kilbeggan from a handicap mark of just 94. Hewick is currently rated 162 over fences so Shark Hanlon has improved the gelding by a massive 68lb from that first win.  The ten-year-old gelding has been an absolute star for his yard winning eleven times including a King George, a bet365 Gold Cup, a Galway Plate and an American Grand National.  Hewick has been in good form this season with placings at the Punchestown Festival, in the French Champion Hurdle and the Champion Chase at Down Royal. On his most recent run at Thurles he made the winner’s enclosure once again when an easy five length winner in a 2m 6f hurdle race. The British handicapper has given Hewick a mark of 162 for the Grand National which is eight pounds lower than his highest official rating. That mark of 162 could arguably mean that Hewick is well-handicapped as his run this year at Down Royal, when second to Envoi Allen in a Grade One chase, has been rated only two pounds lower than his best ever rating by the Racing Post.  Decent underfoot conditions are key to Hewick’s chances and as it looks like we will get a good to soft or good ground Grand National, there is every chance this superb horse could be involved in the finish.

Vanillier ran a remarkable race in the Grand National two years having been in fifteenth position jumping four out and was still twelve lengths behind the leader when jumping the last. The grey gelding powered up the run in and passed all of his rivals bar one, the well-handicapped, Corach Rambler. That excellent run meant that Gavin Cromwell’s charge was a well fancied 14/1 shot for last year’s National but Vanillier didn’t seem to enjoy himself as much in that race and ended up crossing the line in a well-beaten fourteenth place.  This season Cromwell has tried the ten-year-old in Cross Country races which it seemed Vanillier took a while to get used to with a sixth place at Punchestown and a ninth place at Cheltenham. His third attempt was back at Punchestown and this time the penny dropped and Vanillier was an impressive eighteen-length winner. Cromwell then sent Vanillier to Cheltenham for the Cross Country race at the Festival but unfortunately his rider Sean Flanagan nearly took the wrong course and ended up losing many lengths trying to correct his error. Eventually Vanillier finished a fast-finishing third there which was a great result in the circumstances.  The British handicapper appears to have given Vanillier a chance at the weights for the Grand National, dropping him four pounds from last year and he is now on the same mark as when second in 2023. If the Cross Country races have sweetened him up Vanillier must have an excellent chance of running another sound race in this year’s Grand National.

I Am Maximus sprinted clear on the run-in in last year's Grand National, eventually coming home a comfortable seven-and-a-half-length winner and in doing so gave master trainer Willie Mullins his second Aintree Grand National victory. Connections have stated all season that defending his Grand National crown is the plan for 2025 but this time around I Am Maximus will have eight pounds more to hike around Aintree. 2025 did not start well for I Am Maximus with a poor display in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown in December. The Grand National winner continually jumped out to his left and was tailed off from a relatively early stage, although that was a Grade One race run on good to yielding ground which would not have played to his strengths. The Grand National winner put up an improved performance next time with a staying on in eighth place in the Irish Gold Cup but, again, that effort was littered with jumps where the gelding went violently out to his left. A third outing was planned for a race he won last year, the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse, but I Am Maximus was a late non-runner due to a bruised foot. He remains one of the favourites for the 2025 Grand National but his propensity to jump out to his left this season and his foot injury must be a big worry for his supporters.

Last season was extremely positive for Meetingofthewaters with two wins including a 99k handicap. The gelding was sent off second favourite for the Paddy Power Chase at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting as punters surmised that the gelding was very attractively handicapped and so it proved with Meetingofthewaters recording a smooth four and a half length victory under a confident Danny Mullins. That big win prompted JP McManus to step in to buy the horse from previous owner Paul Byrne in time for the horse to run in the green and gold colours at the Cheltenham Festival. Meetingofthewaters finished third there just under six lengths behind winner Chianti Classico. That good run at Cheltenham prompted trainer Willie Mullins to chance the young horse in the Grand National where he could be seen moving well throughout the race. Danny Mullins was in the plate and when his ride jumped the last almost in a line with the leaders it looked as if Meetingofthewaters was going to be right there at the finish. As it was he ended up finishing seventh when he seemed to run out of petrol in the last 100 yards. This season seems to have been implemented with a return trip to Aintree as the ultimate goal once again. The eight-year-old gelding has been well beaten in both his chase efforts but in between those he was sent off an extremely well-backed favourite for a 50k handicap hurdle at the DRF. Connections had spotted that the gelding was rated an incredible thirty-six pounds lower over hurdles and tried to exploit that mark but unfortunately the gamble was not landed as Meetingofthewaters trailed in well beaten. That defeat over hurdles has to leave a question mark as to if the gelding is in anywhere near the same form of last season.  The UK handicapper has given Meetingofthewaters a mark one pound higher than last season’s effort at Aintree but with the gelding's form very much in question, it would require a big leap of faith to support Meetingofthewaters this year.

Minella Cocooner was part of the team Willie Mullins highlighted to help him win the British Trainers’ Championship and this horse certainly did his bit when victorious in the Bet365 Gold Cup and winning over £95,000 in the process.  That win at Sandown was only Minella Cocooner’s second win over fences and with only a six pound rise for that big win he looks to have the scope to win some more big pots. As well as winning at Sandown on good ground he had previously been third in the Irish National when four lengths behind Intense Raffles on heavy ground.  This season Mullins has campaigned this horse mainly at Grade One level and he has been comprehensively beaten on his three starts by 25, 41 and 32 lengths. Minella Cocooner's one race outside Grade One level was in the Bobbyjo at Fairyhouse where he showed some improved form to finish fourth just over eight lengths behind the winner, Nick Rockett. Minella Cocooner’s supporters should not lose heart though as it appears the nine-year-old gelding tends to find his best form toward the end of the season. His four best performances on Racing Post ratings have all come from March onwards in the season so there is every chance he can show an improved performance in the Grand National. It's somewhat surprising that Danny Mullins has elected to not ride this horse as he has been in the plate eight times in the horse's career including that big win at Sandown.

Intense Raffles won three of his nine races in France but seemed to take a huge step forward when transferred into the care of Tom Gibney in County Meath, Ireland. Gibney was in charge of the gelding's novice chase career and this son of Martaline took to that discipline like a duck to water winning his first two novice chases. The trainer then selected a very bold route of sending this inexperienced horse into white-hot company in the Irish Grand National. Despite this being Intense Raffles' first run in a handicap and the first time he had raced in a big field, he acquitted himself admirably becoming only the third six-year-old to win Ireland's top handicap chase. Owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede nominated the Aintree Grand National as the horse's target for 2025 and it is noticeable that the gelding had been kept to hurdles this season prior to the publication of the Grand National weights. The handicapper eventually settled on a mark of 151 for Intense Raffles but given his improving profile and lack of experience it's highly likely he can be competitive at Aintree of this revised mark. Traditionally, seven-year-olds have had a poor record in the Grand National but Noble Yeats broke the bad run of horses that age when winning in 2022 and with the changing nature of the race, being less experienced has become less of an issue.  Intense Raffles has already indicated that he is ahead of the handicapper by finishing second in the renowned Grand National trial, the Grade Three Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse. The Irish handicapper has set his new mark at 156 so he will be five pounds ahead of his handicap mark at Aintree.  Intense Raffles must have an outstanding chance of achieving an Irish and English National double.

Nick Rockett heads to Aintree on the back of two fine wins: the 50k Thyestes Chase and then the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse, which has often been the stepping stone to Grand National victories. A Grade Two winner over hurdles, much was expected of his first year over fences but this son of Walk In The Park only managed to get his head in front once last season. Willie Mullins’ charge did record some good performances in top handicaps, most notably when third behind stablemate Minella Cocooner in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown. Nick Rockett appeared to need the run when a promising fourth at 25/1 in the valuable Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas but his form has stepped up considerably since then. In the Bobbyjo he was receiving three pounds from Irish Grand National winner Intense Raffles but the conditions of the Fairyhouse greatly favoured him and that same horse will be a huge fifteen pounds better off if they both line-up at Aintree.  Nick Rockett will face a tough task in the National as he will only have two horses above him the weights and will run from a mark eleven pounds higher than his last handicap run, the victory in the Thyestes.

Gavin Cromwell will be hoping that the great record in the Grand National of horses who have run in Cross Country races will continue in 2025 as Stumptown and Vanillier are among the best around currently in that field. Stumptown doesn’t fit the profile of most cross-country horses as he is only eight-years-old and most runners in that field tend to be ten and over. He’s won four out of five of his attempts over the banks, including the recent Glenfarclas Cross Country at the Cheltenham Festival.  Stumptown has also won two good traditional handicap chases at Cheltenham in 2024 so he certainly has a progressive profile. The worry for Stumptown’s supporters is that the British handicapper has pushed him up to a rating of 157 for the Grand National which is ten pounds higher than his last win in a traditional handicap.  Another possible concern could be that the last three times Stumptown has contested the very top level traditional handicaps (Irish National, Coral Gold Cup and the Ultima Chase) he has pulled up every time. 

Grangeclare West has always been held in high regard by his powerful stable and has a fine win-to-run ratio of over 45%. He has, however, struggled with various injuries which have meant he has only made it to the track twelve times in four-and-a-half years. He did win a Grade One Novice Chase in 2023 where he had the likes of Corbetts Cross and Flooring Porter behind him but has generally struggled since that victory. The one bright spot in his subsequent runs was this season when he finished an excellent second to Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown.  The nine-year-old gelding has yet to run in a handicap but given the company he has been running against he will have to carry a large amount of weight in the Grand National with only three horses above him in the handicap. 

Earlier this season it looked as if Perceval Legallois was becoming disappointing after going off as favourite in two big Irish handicaps only to return home well beaten. Those defeats in the Galway Plate and the Listowel National meant he was allowed to go off at 17/2 for the big Irish Christmas handicap chase; the Paddy Power at Leopardstown. This time though the real Perceval Legallois turned up and he came home an easy seven-length winner of a handicap worth nearly €100,000.  Trainer Gavin Cromwell then spotted an opportunity for Perceval Legallois to exploit his handicap mark over hurdles which was now eighteen pounds lower than his chase mark after that big win at Leopardstown. Cromwell aimed his charge back at the Dublin track again but this time at a €59,000 listed handicap hurdle. The punting public probably saw this as a run-out to protect his chase handicap from the attentions of the British Grand National handicapper but Cromwell had the eight-year-old fully tuned and he handled the return to hurdles brilliantly coming home a comfortable winner again.  Cromwell has now turned his attention to the Grand National for this horse where he will race from an eleven pounds higher mark than his last chase win at Christmas. This son of Ballingarry has never raced further than three miles so the step up to four miles plus would have to be taken on trust but horses who win at three miles over hurdles usually tend to stay further over fences.  It's a big ask to win such a prestegious race as the Grand National from eleven pounds higher than your last victory but Gavin Cromwell has been making the unlikley happen all season.

Three Card Brag looks to be the main hope of the Gordon Elliott stable who have won the Grand National on three previous occasions. Three Card Brag finished fourth in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival two seasons ago and that run outlined him as a possible improver when tried over fences.  Three Card Brag started favourite for his first two outings over fences but bumped into the likes of Corbetts Cross and Monty’s Star finishing second on both occasions. It actually took the son of Jet Away till his sixth run over fences to record his first victory which means he remains relatively inexperienced but he could potentially still be well handicapped off a mark of 146. The eight-year-old gelding could be a dark horse to be on the right side of, especially as Elliott has secured the services of champion jockey elect, Sean Bowen.

Henry De Bromhead has a good recent record in the Grand National with the one-two in 2021 and another placed horse last year. Senior Chief looks to have been campaigned with this race in mind since winning a handicap chase at Cheltenham in October that also had Vanillier and Broadway Boy in the field. The key that day seemed to be the good ground he was encountering for the first time in his career and the introduction of first-time cheekpieces.  This son of Gentlewave failed to back-up that win at Cheltenham when subsequently finishing a staying-on sixth to Kandoo Kid in the Coral Cold Cup at Newbury. Since that defeat, trainer De Bromhead has restricted the eight-year-old gelding to one quiet run over hurdles at Naas in February. With the ground likely to be no worse than good-to-soft, Senior Chief should have conditions to his liking but he does need to prove himself at extreme distances. He gave the impression at Newbury that he could well be suited by a marathon but he is nine pounds higher in the handicap than his last win at Cheltenham which could make being competitive in a white-hot race such as the Grand National very difficult.