Taking place one day after the Cheltenham Festival, The Midlands Grand National is the feature race of Uttoxeter’s season and always attracts a big crowd, many of which nursing sore heads taking the 80 miles’ drive up the M5 from Cheltenham.
Aintree hope Mr Vango won last year, and the Midlands National has been a good guide to bigger Nationals of late, with 2015 third Raz Du Maree going on to win the Welsh National, Potters Corner winning both races in the space of around nine months, and Mighty Thunder finishing second at Uttoxeter ahead of winning the Scottish National the following month.
Rag Trade won here in 1975 before adding the Grand National 12 months later. Trumping that quartet, however, were Synchronised, who finished third in 2011 ahead of winning the Gold Cup almost a year to the day the following season, and The Thinker, who won the 1986 running before adding the Gold Cup a year later.
Although the last four winners have been sent off at double-figure odds, half of the 24 winners this century could be located in the first three in the betting (of which four were favourites), so it has been a fair race for punters looking to top up Festival winnings or trying to claw back losses. Six of those were following up a last-time-out success.
Youth has generally been the order of the day with just two winners aged over nine since Lucky Lane back in 1995. However, in that time period only Big Occasion (2013) has won for six-year-olds, so best concentrate on contenders aged between seven and nine – like for 23 of the last 26 runnings. That’s unquestionably the key stat. Given the age of winners, it has been a good race for novices.
We have three Irish entries. The Irish enjoyed a very productive spell in and around the start of the century with Eugene O’Sullivan (Another Excuse), Noel Meade (The Bunny Boiler), Jessica Harrington (Miss Orchestra and Intelligent), and Francis Flood (GVA Ireland) accounting for five winners in nine runnings from a handful of runners. Jim Dreaper’s Goonyella then won in 2015 before a drought until the Irish pulled off a 1-2 in 2022. Mr Incredible finished second for Willie Mullins in 2024.
J’Arrive De L’Est is the current ante-post favourite for Emmet Mullins after being ineligible for his Cheltenham target of the Cross Country Chase. Barry Connell looks set to send over My Immortal , who won the Irish Grand National Trial at Punchestown last month.
David Pipe won all four runnings between 2011-2014 and has had six others placed amidst his last 18 runners but is unrepresented this time. Jonjo O’Neill and JP McManus have combined twice to win since 2010 – the aforementioned Gold Cup winner and then Time To Get Up. The O’Neill stable have Collector’s Item this time around, while McManus could be represented by previous course winner Aworkinprogress.
In terms of weight carried, only three winners have carried over 11st since Synchronised in 2010 and he went on to win the biggest chase of them all. No winner had carried more than 11st 5lb since Young Kenny in 1999 until Mr Vango won off top-weight last year. Three top-weights have won in the race’s 54-year history, the previous being Bonanza Boy (1991) who kept all bar one rival out of the handicap. Rock My Way was top-weight at the five-day stage.
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