Grand National Runners

Will The Wise 2027

admin July 26, 2026

Trained by Gavin Cromwell in Navan, County Meath, Will The Wise is a lightly-raced seven-year-old who made good progress over fences in 2025/26, rising 18lb in the weights as a result. He justified favouritism in a novice chase at Galway on his second start of the season, subsequently finished a creditable second in the Sun Racing Plate at the Cheltenham Festival, when carrying 2lb overweight, and opened his account over the Grand National fences at the first attempt when winning the Topham Chase – in which he reversed previous Cheltenham form with Madara – on his final start.

Of course, the Topham Chase is run over two miles and five furlongs or, in other words, nearly a mile-and-three-quarters shorter than the Grand National, but Will The Wise at least demonstrated that the idiosyncratic fences at Aintree hold no terrors for him. He won his sole point-to-point start over three miles as a four-year-old and, although he has yet to win beyond two miles and seven furlongs, over hurdles or fences, under National Hunt Rules, he’s bred to be a decent steeplechaser, being by Well Chosen out of a mare by Benficial.

By the time the 2027 Grand National rolls around, he will still be just an eight-year-old, but five of the last 10 winners of the National were that age, the most recent being Nick Rockett in 2025. All of the last 10 winners were officially rated 146 or higher, with the 2026 winner, I Am Maximus, the highest rated at 168. Notwithstanding his lack of experience, and unproven stamina, Will The Wise has already demonstrated the level of ability associated with typical Grand National winners on recent years, with a little ‘wiggle’ room for improvement in the coming months. Currently on offer at 50/1 in the early ante-post lists, he may prove a very lively outsider.

Panic Attack 2027

admin July 26, 2026

On the morning of Saturday, April 11, 2026, Panic Attack, trained by Dan Skelton, was backed into 7/1 favourite for the Grand National after a week-long gamble that saw her odds shorten from 25/1 earlier in the week. At that point, Skelton said of her, “…she has a great temperament, she jumps well, she’ll handle the ground, she’ll handle the occasion beforehand. “

At the ‘off’, Panic Attack was eventually returned 7/1 second-favourite in the face of sustained support for the eventual winner, I Am Maximus. In any event, her attempt to become the first mare since Nickel Coin, trained by Jack O’Donoghue, in 1951 to win the Grand National was short-lived. In the hands of Harry Skelton, brother of Dan, Panic Attack was badly hampered by the fall of Quai De Bourbon at the second fence, before falling, of her own accord, at the third.

Prior to her Aintree mishap, Panic Attack had shown progressive form, notably completing the Paddy Power Gold Cup – Coral Gold Cup double on her first two starts of the 2025/26 season and rising 12lb in the weights as a result. She was turned over, at odds-on, by two lower-rated rivals in a Listed mares’ chase at Perth on her only start since the Grand National, but whether or not that defeat was sufficient to justify her seemingly-generous odds of 40/1 for the 2027 renewal in the ante-post lists is open to conjecture.

Panic Attack has a decent win-to-run ratio over fences, having won five of her 11 starts and has jumped around Cheltenham and Newbury without mishap, so her Aintree fall should not be held against her to the point of stigmatisation. She has actually dropped 2lb in the weights since the Grand National so, with winning form on going ranging from ‘good’ to ‘soft’, she must have a realistic chance of breaking the mares’ hoodoo in the Grand National.

Nick Rockett 2027

admin July 26, 2026

Trained by Willie Mullins, Nick Rockett etched his name into the annals of Grand National history when winning the world-famous steeplechase under Patrick Mullins, son of his trainer, in 2025. However, the Walk In The Park gelding was denied the opportunity to bid for back-to-back victories when declared a non-runner shortly before the 2026 renewal, having reportedly given “a few coughs”.

In fact, Nick Rockett had run just once since his Grand National win, finishing a never-threatening third of four, beaten six-and-three-quarter lengths, behind comfortable winner Gerry Colombe in the Bluegrass Racehorse Cube Chase at Down Royal on March 17, 2026. Despite an interrupted preparation, as the result of two, albeit minor, hold-ups, Patrick Mullins said afterwards, “I loved what he did from the back of the second last when he got his second wind and he ran on.”

Still only a nine-year-old, Nick Rockett is currently officially rated 168, 5lb higher than when winning the National but, when on song, is a strong-travelling type with a fast, economical jumping technique. Indeed, the form of his 2025 Grand National win has worked out extremely well, with the second, I Am Maximus, and the fourth, Iroko, finishing first and second in the 2026 renewal, so it’s difficult to argue that, at 33/1, he’s not overpriced in the early ante-post lists for 2027.

Of course, Willie Mullins has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Grand National contenders, with I Am Maximus, the winner in 2024 and 2026, and Grangeclare West, third in 2025 and an early casualty, when well fancied, in 2026, in the first half a dozen in the early ante-post betting. However, if Nick Rockett resumes his progress – he was actually completing a hat-trick when winning the National – and can be produced fit and well on April 10, 2027, he could make a mockery of his current odds.

Montys Star 2027

admin July 26, 2026

Trained by Henry de Bromhead in Knockeen, County Waterford, Montys Star has run three times, without success, at the Cheltenham Festival. In 2023, the Walk In The Park gelding was pulled up in the Albert Novices’ Hurdle, in 2024, he finished second in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase and, in 2025, finished fourth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, despite nearly unseating jockey Rachael Blackmore before halfway. In 2026, by which time Montys Star was a nine-year-old, connections chose to forgo a fourth consecutive Cheltenham Festival in favour of a crack at the Grand National.

Ridden by Darragh O’Keefe, Montys Star was sent off at 14/1 at Aintree and was disputing the lead at the fence after Valentine’s Brook on the second circuit, where a slight mistake did his chances no favours. Nevertheless, he pursued clear leader Jordans on the turn for home but, when push came to shove, he eventually weakened from the final fence to finish tenth of the 16 finishers, beaten 31 lengths by the winner, I Am Maximus.

Montys Star is currently officially rated 157, 2lb lower than at Aintree, but more of a concern is the fact that his only win in 12 starts over regulation fences came in a beginners’ chase, over three miles, on heavy going at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve 2023. He has twice finished second at Grade 1 level, but his run in the Grand National was, in fact, his first attempt beyond the three-and-a-quarter-mile distance of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Based on the limited evidence available, Montys Star does not appear to be an out-and-out stayer, but that doubt is reflected by his 50/1 odds in the early ante-post lists for the 2027 Grand National.Granted the shock winners of the Grand National, even since the turn of the millenium, it would be silly to say that he can’t, or won’t, win in 2027, but he looks to have his work cut out to do so.

Iroko 2027

admin July 26, 2026

Owned by the leading owner in the history of the Grand National, John McManus, and trained, jointly, by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, Iroko has come closer than most to his own taste of glory in the Aintree marathon, having finished fourth, as second-favourite, in 2025 and second in 2026. Still only an eight-year-old, Iroko was, in fact, installed as favourite for the 2026 Grand National when the weights were published, but drifted markedly in the betting after a disappointing run in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, after which he scoped dirty. Unperturbed, Guerriero told the ‘Racing Post’ that Iroko had “been a much more complete horse” since his previous attempt in the National, but he was, nonetheless, returned at a generous-looking 18/1.

Interestingly, Iroko has yet to win at a distance beyond two miles and five furlongs, over hurdles or fences but, granted that he was staying on at the finish in both attempts in the Grand National, stamina appears to be his strong suit. On British soil, he has won on going ranging from ‘good’ to ‘soft’ and he was placed on ‘very soft’ over hurdles in his native France, so underfoot conditions at Aintree should be no cause for concern, regardless of the weather on Merseyside in the spring of 2027.

In terms of handicapping, Iroko has been raised 3lb for his latest exploits in the Grand National, which means, as it stands, he would be 2lb better off for the two-and-a-half lengths he was beaten by the 2026 winner, and current ante-post favourite, I Am Maximus, in the 2027 renewal. Of course, the Steeplechase Team Leader at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) will have the final say when the Grand National weights are published in mid-February but, at 16/1 in the early ante-post lists, Iroko looks a live contender.