Find out the latest trends that are beginning to take shape in the new-look Randox Grand National at Aintree.
The Randox Grand National is a different beast entirely compared to the race it was, say, 20 years ago so when it comes to looking for relevant trends then it feels important to hone in on more recent editions of the Aintree spectacle rather than cast the net too far back.
Connections have been more and more willing to run their classier horses ever since the initial suite of alterations were made to the race prior to the 2013 running – which included quite significant modification of the fences and landing areas being levelled off even further – and we've now got to the stage where the six-length Cheltenham Gold Cup winner was still under serious consideration for the Aintree handicap until just a couple of weeks ago.
Of course, there is only the solitary year’s evidence following the introduction of the reduced field-size limit (34) and shorter run to first fence 12 months ago, but if we focus on the past four Grand Nationals – since 2020 was abandoned due to the pandemic – and look back over the profiles of the 20 horses who filled the first five places, there already looks to be some modern-era trends forming.
Here are five of the more interesting statistics during that admittedly short period of National history.
16/20 ran in Grade One race earlier in career
Three of the four National winners in this period had admittedly never run in a Grade 1 race earlier in their career, but I Am Maximus bucked the trend last year and he actually led home four previous top-class winners with Delta Work, Minella Indo and Galvin joining him in the winners' circle.
Victory had gone the way of the progressive handicappers the three previous years (Corach Rambler, Noble Yeats and Minella Times), but the places have been littered with ex-G1 performers and only that trio of aforementioned winners, plus last year's fifth Kitty’s Light, finished in the first five without having gained previous Grade 1 experience.
Positive mentions: Hewick, Vanillier, Minella Cocooner, Bravemansgame
Click here to read our in-depth guide to every runner in the Grand National
16/20 trained in Ireland
Slim pickings for the home team in recent seasons, although Lucinda Russell (not represented in 2025) has been flying the flag admirably for Scotland and picked up her second National success as a trainer courtesy of Corach Rambler a couple of years ago.
Irish-based horses do largely boss the betting market once again although Iroko, trained by Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero in Cheshire, is among those vying for favouritism, while 20/1 shots Hyland (Nicky Henderson) and Kandoo Kid (Paul Nicholls) are the next shortest-priced among the British hopes.
Dominant Irish trainers Willie Mullins and Henry De Bromhead have each won the Grand National in recent seasons and are well represented once again this time around.
Positive mentions: I Am Maximus, Nick Rockett, Minella Cocooner, Meetingofthewaters, Senior Chief.
13/20 aged 7, 8 or 9
It's not just Premier League referees and police officers, Grand National winners appear to be getting younger too.
It looked a bit of an anomaly when Noble Yeats galloped into the record books as the first 7-year-old victor since Bogskar in 1940 just three years ago but a couple of 8-year-olds and a 9-year-old have also prevailed since the COVID hiatus.
Arguably even more persuasive for the younger brigade looking ahead to the weekend is the fact that 10 of the 20 'placed' horses in the past four seasons have been aged just 7 or 8.
Positive mentions: Iroko, Intense Raffles, Stumptown, Perceval Legallois, Hyland.
WATCH: RELIVE THE CLOSEST GRAND NATIONAL OF ALL TIME!
The 2012 Grand National was the closest in history and winning jockey Daryl Jacob relives his emotions during this fascinating interview complete with thrilling race footage.
11/20 didn't run at Cheltenham Festival in same season
Every trainer seems to do things slightly differently but keeping a horse as 'fresh' as possible for the Grand National seems to be fashionable in the current climate, and having a potentially hard race at Cheltenham three/four weeks in advance of Aintree isn't always conducive to that methodology.
Among the nine (placed runners in the past four years) who did run at Cheltenham in their preparatory race, four competed in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, three ran in the Ultima Handicap Chase, two the Gold Cup and one each from the National Hunt Chase and the Festival Plate.
Gordon Elliott - and principally Tiger Roll - can largely be thanked for the intrinsic link between the Cross Country Chase and the new National, with plenty using that relatively slow-tempo contest as a stepping-stone in recent seasons.
It has almost paid off a few times since the Tiger and Gavin Cromwell is making a bold bid this year in running two from the Festival contest just 24 days on from finishing first and third respectively in the XC.
Elsewhere from Cheltenham, Broadway Boy has to bounce straight back less than a month after being pulled-up in the Ultima, while the Elliott-trained Duffle Coat hardly had the ideal tee-up race having been brought down late on in the National Hunt Chase.
The preferred prep run these days, certainly from an Irish perspective, seems to be the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse towards the end of February. Four of our 20 ran in the Grade 3 event en route to the National and this year's Fairyhouse first, second and fourth are all bound for the big one on Saturday.
Positive mentions: Intense Raffles, Nick Rockett, Minella Cocooner, Stumptown, Vanillier.
10/20 had previously won over 3m2f or beyond
"Long gone are the days of a frenetic dash to the first, the 2024 renewal almost stop-start in fashion, the winner being able to produce such a turn of foot from the Elbow indicative of a contest in which the need for limitless reverses of a stamina has been drastically reduced."
An extract from Lewis Tomlinson's enlightening column on these pages just a couple of weeks ago and it's hard to argue with the suggestion that the race is far less about staying power than used to be the case.
We're not quite back to the point when old sages used tell you to look out for the two and half mile specialists "because they just hunt around for a circuit anyway", but when you consider half of our 20-strong sample had not won a race beyond three and a quarter miles, it does seem to open things up even more for those attempting the trip (and probably the track) for the first time in their lives.
Positive mentions: Hyland, Iroko, Meetingofthewaters, Grangeclare West, Monbeg Genius.
Randox Grand National results since 2020 abandonment
2024
- I Am Maximus
- Delta Work
- Minella Indo
- Galvin
- Kitty’s Light
2023
- Corach Rambler
- Vanillier
- Gaillard Du Mesnil
- Noble Yeats
- The Big Dog
2022
- Noble Yeats
- Andy Second Now
- Delta Work
- Santini
- Fiddlerontheroof
2021
- Minella Times
- Balko Des Flos
- Any Second Now
- Burrows Saint
- Farclas
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