Commander tops 49 left in Aintree National

Imperial Commander heads a list of 49 horses left in the John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree on Saturday following the five-day stage.

The 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero could try to make up for missing another crack at last month’s blue riband event with a minor infection.

His trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies, who has won the world’s greatest steeplechase twice with Earth Summit (1998) and Bindaree (2002), has also left in Major Malarkey and Viking Blond.