By Canford Cliffs out of a mare by Galileo, Panic Attack is bred to be a top-class Flat horse, but began her racing career, as a four-year-old, with Willie Mullins, before joining David Pipe and subsequently her current trainer, Dan Skelton. Her form figures since joining Skelton in November 2024 read 3312-111 and, since winning a mares’ handicap chase at Windsor on January 17, 2025, she has officially improved 22lb over fences. As the Grand National weights stand, she is set to carry 10st 5lb, which means that she needs a dozen horses above her to come out to make the cut on April 11, 2026.
That caveat aside, even as a 10-year-old, she appears to have found another jolt of improvement in recent months, which is reflected in her market position as 20/1 joint-fifth favourite for the Grand National. Panic Attack began her 2025/26 campaign in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham, which she won, going away, by four lengths. Raised 4lb for that success, two weeks later she completed a notable early-season double by readily winning the Coral Gold Cup (formerly the Hennessy Gold Cup) at Newbury by six-and-a-half lengths. She completed a hat-trick when cantering to a facile, 14-length success in a Listed mares’ chase back at Newbury in January 2026, jumping well to justify prohibitive odds of 1/4.
Panic Attack has no experience of the Grand National fences but, having tackled the stiff fences at Cheltenham and Newbury with aplomb, should not be inconvenienced by the idiosyncratic obstacles at Aintree. Most of her winning form has come with a degree of cut in the ground, so she should be fine going-wise. More of a concern, perhaps, is the fact that, in 177 runnings so far, just 13 mares have won the Grand National and the last of them, Nickel Coin, beat just two other finishers in a calamitous renewal way back in 1951. Nevertheless, Panic Attack may not have finished improving yet and, if she does make the cut, could make her current odds look very good value indeed. Sketon said of her, “If we fancy having a go at the mares’ chase at the Cheltenham Festival then we might, but our sights are firmly set on the Grand National.”