Grand National runners: Pinstickers' guide to 2025 Aintree race
AND THEY'RE OFF: Runners and riders during the Oddschecker Sefton Novices' Hurdle on day two of the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree. Pic: David Davies for The Jockey Club/PA Wire.
It's the biggest race of the year and an event in which lots of us take an interest.
So which horse should you get behind in Saturday's Aintree Grand National, which is scheduled to get going at 4pm?
Here's your guide to the runners and riders ahead of the 2025 renewal.
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Jockey: Paul Townend
Rating: 7/10 Odds: 9-1
An impressive winner of the 2024 renewal but no horse has defied top weight since the legendary Red Rum in 1974. Faces a huge task.
Trainer: Venetia Williams
Jockey: Charlie Deutsch
Rating: 3/10 Odds:
125-1
Got the better of Grey Dawning in a gruelling renewal of the Betfair Chase earlier this season but conditions will be far less to his liking here.
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Jockey: Patrick Mullins
Rating: 7/10
Odds: 20-1
Comes here in cracking order having won the Thyestes Chase and the Bobbyjo in his last two starts. Must give Intense Raffles weight this time though.
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Jockey: Brian Hayes
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 22-1
Finished in front of subsequent Cheltenham heroes Fact To File and Inothewayurthinkin when second in the Irish Gold Cup but overall profile patchy.
Trainer: Shark Hanlon
Jockey: Gavin Sheehan
Rating: 8/10
Odds: 8-1
Victory for the 2023 King George hero would be a fairytale story for a host of reasons and conditions and the make-up of the modern National look certain to suit. Definite contender.
Trainer: Henry de Bromhead
Jockey: Rachael Blackmore
Rating: 5/10
Odds: 20-1
The 2021 Gold Cup victor ran a huge race to finish third in this race last year but no 12-year-old has won the National since Amberleigh House in 2004.
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Jockey: Seán O’Keeffe
Rating: 3/10
Odds: 66-1
Ended an 11-race losing sequence when winning a Thurles Grade Two on his most recent start but it’s hard to envisage him staying this marathon trip.
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Jockey: Jonathan Burke
Rating: 7/10
Odds: 14-1
Won the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown last year after finishing third in the Irish National. Decent each-way claims if he returns to that form.
11yrs 11st 2
Trainer: Gordon Elliott
Jockey: Jordan Gainford
Rating: 3/10
Odds: 80-1
A two-time Grade One winner in 2022 but no longer the force of old. Didn’t stay the trip over the Cross Country course at Cheltenham in November so easily opposable.
Trainer: Gavin Cromwell
Jockey: Keith Donoghue
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 8-1
Victorious in his last four starts but had to dig pretty deep in the Cross Country Chase and has had little time to recover from those exertions.
Trainer: Paul Nicholls
Jockey: Freddie Gingell
Rating: 2/10
Odds: 80-1
A perennial bridesmaid having finished second 11 times in a 26-race career but unlikely to finish anywhere near that close over this trip.
Trainer: Nigel Twiston-Davies
Jockey: Sam Twiston Davies
Rating: 5/10
Odds: 20-1
A Midlands National winner last season so stamina won’t be an issue but he’s now 12lbs higher than he was when winning at Ascot earlier this season.
Trainer: Paul Nicholls
Jockey: James Reveley
Rating: 4/10
Odds: 33-1
Won the King George in 2022 but hasn’t looked the same horse since finishing second to Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup the following March.
Trainer: Nicky Henderson
Jockey: James Bowen
Rating: 3/10
Odds: 80-1
Sent off favourite for the 2021 King George and victory at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day showed the fire still burns. Hard to fancy in this company though.
Trainer: Paul Nicholls
Jockey: Harry Skelton
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 50-1
Stamina shouldn’t be an issue for a horse who finished fourth in the 2023 Scottish National. Also ran well twice in defeat at Ascot this season. Could sneak into the places at a big price.
Trainer: Gavin Cromwell
Jockey: Mark Walsh
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 10-1
In cracking form this season, winning big pots over both fences and hurdles at Leopardstown. However, those victories haven’t gone unnoticed by the handicapper.
Trainer: Paul Nicholls
Jockey: Harry Cobden
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 22-1
Won the Coral Gold Cup earlier this season but that contest is no longer the race it once was. Ran well over these fences when third in the Topham last season.
Trainer: Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero
Jockey: Jonjo O'Neill Jnr
Rating: 9/10
Odds: 7-1
A Cheltenham Festival winner in 2023, he chased home Inothewayurthinkin in a Grade One at this meeting last year. Granted luck in running, he looks sure to run a big race.
Trainer: Tom Gibney
Jockey: JJ Slevin
Rating: 7/10
Odds: 11-1
An impressive winner of last year’s Irish National, he has been trained with just one day in mind ever since. Quicker ground looks the sole unticked box.
Trainer: Henry de Bromhead
Jockey: Darragh O’Keeffe
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 20-1
Began his season with a Cheltenham victory in October and ran okay when sixth in the Coral Gold Cup, shaping as though a further step up would suit.
Trainer: Richard Phillips
Jockey: Harry Bannister
Rating: 4/10
Odds: 100-1
A 40-1 winner of the Midlands National at Kilbeggan for Noel Meade last season but it’s hard to visualise him repeating the trick for his new connections.
Trainer: Gordon Elliott
Jockey: Sam Ewing
Rating: 3/10
Odds: 66-1
Second to Vauban in the 2022 Triumph Hurdle but a record of two wins from 14 starts over fences doesn’t inspire confidence. Unlikely to get home.
Trainer: Nigel Twiston-Davies
Jockey: Tom Bellamy
Rating: 2/10
Odds: 50-1
Finished second to Kandoo Kid in the Coral Gold Cup but his two subsequent runs have been dismal. On those efforts, he can’t win.
Trainer: Gordon Elliott
Jockey: Jody McGarvey
Rating: 2/10
Odds: 80-1
Back for a fourth crack at the National but he didn’t stay on the three previous occasions and there’s no logical reason why he should do so this time.
Trainer: Paul Nicholls
Jockey: Paul O'Brien
Rating: 4/10
Odds: 66-1
Won the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle two years ago but has been pulled up in three of his last four starts over fences. Hard to make a case for.
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Jockey: Danny Mullins
Rating: 5/10
Odds: 16-1
Ran well for a long way last year before fading late on to finish seventh, a run that raises stamina concerns. Has also shown little spark this season.
Trainer: Jonjo and AJ O’Neill
Jockey: Nick Scholfield
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 28-1
A hit-and-miss performer since finishing a third behind Corach Rambler and Fastorslow in the 2023 Ultima but comes here off a decent win at Uttoxeter.
Trainer: Gavin Cromwell
Jockey: Seán Flanagan
Rating: 8/10
Odds: 9-1
A fast-finishing second in this race two years ago and might have won the Cross Country at Cheltenham had his jockey not nearly taken the wrong course. Definite player.
Trainer: Michael Keady
Jockey: Ciarán Gethings
Rating: 5/10
Odds: 100-1
Second-place finishes in both the Kerry National and the Munster National for Willie Mullins earlier this season provide some cause for optimism. His form since? Less so.
Trainer: Nicky Henderson
Jockey: Nico de Boinville
Rating: 6/10
Odds: 16-1
Has only once finished outside the first two in six chase starts and looks sure to relish conditions. However, this prize seems destined to forever elude his trainer.
Trainer: Philip Hobbs and Johnson White
Jockey: Micheál Nolan
Rating: 4/10
Odds: 125-1
In his favour is he has form over the fences, finishing fourth in both the Becher and the Topham. Against him is his age, 13-year-olds don’t win Nationals.
Trainer: Gordon Elliott
Jockey: Seán Bowen
Rating: 5/10 Odds: 20-1
Ran well when third to Spillane’s Tower in Grade One company last season but his overall profile suggests he’s an unlikely winner here.
Trainer: Ben Pauling
Jockey: Beau Morgan
Rating: 3/10
Odds: 66-1
Ran a big race when second in the Ultima at last year’s Cheltenham Festival but his form since doesn’t inspire confidence. His price reflects his chance.
Trainer: Gordon Elliott
Jockey: Danny Gilligan
Rating: 4/10
Odds: 50-1
Runner-up in last year’s Galway Plate but has shown little since. Conditions likely to suit but it’s hard to make a compelling case in his favour.
JP McManus has already bagged a Gold Cup this spring and his famous green and gold silks can be carried to victory by IROKO, a horse who chased home Inothewayurthinkin in an Aintree Grade One at this meeting last year. His youth is a possible negative but Noble Yeats proved a seven-year-old can win the National when scoring in 2022. Gavin Cromwell has three big contenders and Vanillier could be the horse to give Iroko most to do. With the ground in his favour it’s not hard to see Hewick running a big race while Minella Cocooner might prove the best of the Willie Mullins-trained sextet.
