Early Grand National thoughts following unveiling of 90 entries for Aintree

I Am Maximus is reportedly the biggest antepost loser with the majority of bookmakers ahead of the 2025 Grand National. He marginally edges that particular heat from – shock horror! - another JP McManus interest, the eyecatcher of all eyecatchers from Cheltenham Trials Day: Iroko.

Not content with the top two in the market, JP has seven others following the publication of the initial entries, including Inothewayurthinkin, Perceval Legallois and Meetingofthewaters, who finished seventh last year with no obvious excuse other than the fact he was a seven-year-old novice who had been on the go since early-October.

On reflection, they are perfectly legitimate reasons for him perhaps not quite seeing it out as strongly as some of the others on the day, and if there was an element of the ‘12-month sighter’ to that outing, which can rarely be ruled out these days (just look at Salvator Mundi), then it was a pretty sound recce.

WATCH: I Am Maximus wins 2024 Randox Grand National

Meetingofthewaters ran down the field behind Perceval Legallois - who appears to have blown his own mark by winning so impressively - in the Paddy Power at Leopardstown over Christmas but is now in line for a Dublin Racing Festival reappearance over hurdles where his handicap mark remains a barely believable 112.

That’s a 36lb discrepancy between his chase and hurdles ratings in Ireland so - and I state this with a little trepidation seeing as Perceval Legallois is entered in the same race off 135 - on all known form he really should be going very close.

Win, lose or draw this weekend, one suspects they won’t be wanting to leave this year’s National efforts behind at Cheltenham, having run very well for third in the Ultima last March, and although the British assessors are likely to be all over his chances with a mark expected to be in the mid-150s, it’s worth underlining the fact that last year’s first four ran off 159, 157, 159 and 155 respectively.

They were all trained in Ireland, of course, and right now it’s Willie Mullins’ Meetingofthewaters who tops the Value Bet shortlist at 50/1 with a handful of major firms (33s generally).

Matter of time for Cromwell?

Gavin Cromwell, responsible for Perceval Legallois and Inothewayurthinkin, seems highly likely to win the National one day if maintaining his recent upward trajectory.

The grey Vanillier, who came from nowhere to finish second best behind the rampant Corach Rambler two years ago, would appear to be past his peak these days but Cromwell has others to call upon, not least Stumptown.

His story is already quite a colourful one, having won as he liked at Sandown en route to finishing second in the 2023 Kim Muir, before being pulled-up behind a certain I Am Maximus when sent off just 15/2 for the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse.

Jumping frailties raised their ugly head when again quite well fancied for last season’s Coral Gold Cup at Newbury but he went on to win at Cheltenham in first-time blinkers on New Year’s Day, and then checked out early again in last year’s Ultima.

That run came on the back of owners The Furze Bush Syndicate having to distance themselves from a certain Kerry businessman (10% shareholder by all accounts) in light of his role in the importing of €32m worth of crystal meth, but back to more pressing matters and it appears the horse has bounced right back following a switch to cross-country racing which has evidently seen him rediscovered his mojo.

A cosy defeat of Mister Coffey at Cheltenham’s pre-Christmas meeting made it three on the spin for Stumptown, whose jumping problems may now be a thing of the past. He’s still only eight, is effectively assured of a place in the line-up if connections feel that way inclined, and has long been considered an ideal type for marathon distances. There's plenty to like.

Brave and the bold

‘Bravemansgame is a shadow of his former self.’ You may have heard that a lot over the past 18 months or so, along with ‘that Gold Cup clash with Galopin obviously left its mark’.

I wouldn’t be wild about the latter of those two assumptions and while the former evidently has some merit, a revised handicap mark of 157 reflects as much - that figure now fully 15lb lower than his BHA peak of 172.

Still rated 166 heading into his seasonal return at Wetherby this time around in November, Paul Nicholls was quick to mention Aintree as an alternative target for Bravemansgame after the Charlie Hall defeat behind The Real Whacker. And here we are.

What happens now will be interesting but another prep run post-weight-reveal would appear most likely and, regardless of whether he’s suddenly become well-handicapped or is simply more over the hill than some would have you believe, there’s definitely a case to be made for Bravemansgame being one of the neatest jumpers of a fence to have lined up in a modern-day National.

Nicholls may have a more obvious candidate and Harry Cobden states Kandoo Kid – the shortest-priced Brit at a general 25/1 - has “a great profile for the race”, although we know how hard it is to win two of the biggies in this division in the same season so he's another who may now have reached his ceiling from a handicapping perspective.

Published at 1700 GMT on 28/01/25

Initial entries for 2025 Randox Grand National

Apple Away
Appreciate It
Beauport
Bravemansgame
Broadway Boy
Bronn
Busselton
Capodanno
Celebre D'Allen
Chantry House
Chemical Energy
Coko Beach
Conflated
Copperhead
Cruz Control
Delta Work
Desertmore House
Duffle Coat
Envoi Allen
Escaria Ten
Fakir D'Oudairies
Famous Bridge
Fantastic Lady
Farouk D'Alene
Favori De Champdou
Fil Dor
Fontaine Collonges
French Dynamite
Galvin
Gentlemansgame
Gericault Roque
Gerri Colombe
Gevrey
Git Maker
Grangeclare West
Hewic
Hitman
Horantzau D'Airy
Hyland
I Am Maximus
Idas Boy
Inothewayurthinkin
Intense Raffles
Iroko
Kandoo Kid
King Turgeon
L'Homme Presse
La Renommee
Limerick Lace
Macdermott
Malina Girl
Meetingofthewaters
Minella Cocooner
Minella Crooner
Minella Drama
Minella Indo
Mister Coffey
Monbeg Genius
Monty's Star
Motu Fareone
Mr Incredible
Mr Vango
Nick Rockett
Pats Fancy
Perceval Legallois
Pinkerton
Placenet
Quick Wave
Richmond Lake
Roi Mage
Royale Pagaille
Senior Chief
Shakem Up'Arry
Spanish Harlem
Stay Away Fay
Stumptown
Stuzzikini
Surrey Quest
The Goffer
The Real Whacker
Three Card Brag
Threeunderthrufive
Trelawne
Twig
Vanillier
Velvet Elvis
Where It All Began
Yeah Man
Your Own Story
Zanahiyr