Black Grand National Horses

Blaklion started the Grand National five years ago as the 8/1 favourite and his supporters looked likely to collect when he powered into the lead five fences from home. However, the petrol started to run out between the last two fences, and he was eventually overhauled by One For Arthur before eventually finishing a tired fourth. He lined up again in the National the following year but only made it over the first fence before being brought down by the fall of Perfect Candidate. Blaklion was purchased by Darren Yeats for 300k+ in the run-up to the 2019 Grand National but injury ruled him out of the race. Yeats originally sent him to be trained by Phil Kirby but then decided to switch the horse to Dan Skelton without Kirby ever getting him to the racecourse. After being off the course for over twenty months Blaklion eventually made it back to the track in October 2020 and the gelding finished a gallant sixth in last year's National, beaten over thirty-five lengths by Minella Times. That was a really good effort especially as he was the only British trained horse to finish in the top eleven places.  The handicapper continued to drop Blaklion's rating and when he hit 131 this brought about a change in form that resulted in two easy victories. Those two victories brought a fourteen-pound increase in Blaklion's rating meaning that he lines up in this year's National on 145 which is the same mark as last year's sixth-place finish. Realistically it is hard to see Blaklion doing any better than last year as he is now thirteen years old. Twenty-one horses of that age have attempted the Grand National since 1998 and just two have managed to finish in the places.  Undoubtedly Blaklion faces a tough task in the 2022 Grand National but his five races over the National fences will undoubtedly stand him in good stead and it's not impossible to see the old horse placing again.

The Gordon Elliott trained mare won both of her two starts this season, a Listed Mares' Chase at Clonmel and then a Grade 3 Mares' Chase at Fairyhouse. Both of those wins were at around two and a half miles so Mount Ida is definitely versatile when it comes to distance. Last season’s highlight was undoubtedly the mare’s amazing win in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham where she initially appeared to be struggling when badly jumping the right and being pushed along at the back of the field after only half a dozen fences. The in-running punters pushed Mount Ida out to 999/1 but there were undoubtedly some disappointed traders as the mare shrugged off her early issues and stormed through to win the big race by over six lengths. Some pundits will suggest that Mount Ida was so well handicapped that day that she was able to get away with jumping out to the right so badly but she now finds herself on a much-increased handicap mark after that win.  Trainer Gordon Elliott did say that Mount Ida was found to have a back problem after her win at Cheltenham which has now been cured. Being able to win a race at the Cheltenham Festival whilst carrying a back injury makes her performance there even more memorable. The Kim Muir has a rich tradition of winners who go on to run well in the Grand National with 2010 Kim Muir winner Ballabriggs winning at Aintree the following year, 2012 Kim Muir winner Sunnyhillboy getting beat a short-head in the National the following month, 2016 Kim Muir winner Cause of Causes finishing second in the Grand National of 2017 and 2019 Kim Muir winner Any Second Now finishing an unlucky looking third at Aintree last year. Mount Ida has won two shorter distance races this season that were confined to mares only. She then went to the Cheltenham Festival to run in the Grade Two Mares' Chase and was sent off the 5/2 third favourite. Unfortunately, her tendency to jump to her right on a left-handed track came up again and ultimately she was very disappointing finishing well behind the winner, Elimay.  If we could believe that Mount Ida would not jump out to her right at Aintree she would be a very interesting runner but her proclivity to not jump straight makes her a very risky bet in the Grand National.

Venetia Williams is no stranger to national success having trained the longshot Mon Mome to success back in 2009, the 100/1 shot was a comfortable winner having finished tenth the season prior. Surprisingly, Venetia has not had a runner in the race since 2018 when both Houblon Des Obeaux and Tenor Nivernais both failed to finish having both finished the race a year earlier in 2017 and the yard does generally have an ok record over the National fences with a 49% completion rate. Commodore had a wind operation after last season which didn't go completely to plan, second and was only beaten half a length by Snow Leopardess at Haydock which was the highlight of the grey's season. It's been a quiet season for Commodore, in fact, we had to wait till December for his seasonal debut and he was back with a bang winning a Grade 3 handicap chase at Cheltenham with his closest rival some fifteen lengths away and that brought to an end a wait of twenty-one months for a win. The question is did he progress dramatically from a 9yo to 10yo, did he really appreciate the 300+ day break or did the wind operation work wonders, whatever it was it put him spot-on for that race which was over three miles and two furlongs on ground with some cut in it. The biggest negative for this runner would be having just that one run this season, that really does go against the trend, however, the way he won that day along with the fact he will only run off a mark 9lbs higher for this, you would be foolish to rule him out for a yard who has been in cracking form all season.