Despite winning the National Hunt Trainers’ Championship six times, Nicky Henderson has yet to saddle the winner of the Grand National. However, the Master of Seven Barrows appears to have realistic prospects of ending his National hoodoo with the stoutly-bred mare Holloway Queen, who will be a seven-year-old, and hence eligible for the world-famous steeplechase, by the time April 10, 2027 rolls around. She has already completed three of the requisite four steeplechases and finished in the first four in one over three miles or further, so should qualify for the National as a matter of course.
Indeed, on just her fourth run over fences, Holloway Queen demonstrated her staying prowess when winning the National Hunt Chase, over three-and-three-quarter miles, at the Cheltenham Festival on March 10, 2026. Ridden by James Bowen, she led on the approach to two out and went clear in the closing stages to beat King Of Answers and One Big Bang by five-and-a-half lengths and 11 lengths.
Holloway Queen did not run again after her Cheltenham Festival victory, but it would be fair to say that the form of the National Hunt Chase has not worked out, at least not yet. One Big Bang finished a distant sixth behind Soldier In Milan in the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on April 6 and King Of Answers was pulled up behind Kap Vert in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr on April 18. Henderson eventually decided against running Holloway Queen in the Irish Grand National, which would have been informative, but it remains early days for the daughter of Jukebox Jury as a staying chaser.
Henderson has stressed that going on the soft side is a prequisite for Holloway Queen but, with a policy of routine watering in operation these days, she should have no problem in that respect. Of course, the last mare to win the Grand National was Nickel Coin back in 1951, but that statistic is more a reflection of the few mares that have tried than their overall ability.