White Grand National Horses

Haiti Couleurs has been a revelation over the last eighteen months winning the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, the Irish National, the Welsh National and, most recently, the Grade Two Denman Chase. 

This winning haul has seen his handicap mark go up a huge thirty-one pounds and that may have scuppered his chances of winning an English National given that he now sits at a very elevated level in the handicap.

Trainer Rebecca Curtis is now targeting the Cheltenham Gold Cup with her charge and it would be a big ask for the nine-year-old gelding to take in Aintree as well after such a busy season.

Having Champion Jockey Sean Bowen in the plate has been a huge boon for Curtis and Bowen’s tactical nous has undoubtedly allowed Haiti Couleurs to get the most out of his ability. The partnership would undoubtedly be very popular if lining up at Aintree but the suspicion must remain that he may no longer be well enough handicapped for such a competitive race.

Western Fold began his career over fences when falling behind Majborough in a novice chase and trainer Gordon Elliott has been keen to get plenty of experience into this son of Westerner with twelve races over fences in just over a year. 

The seven-year-old gelding has won four times in that period, the highlight of which was a comprehensive victory last July in the 134k Galway Plate. Elliott has seen his charge move up twenty pounds in the handicap and the gelding has now also graduated to Grade One races where he has also put in some fine performances.

Western Fold’s last race was at the Cheltenham Festival where he recorded one of his few disappointing runs, finishing tenth behind Kitzbuhel in the Brown Advisory Chase, although Elliot’s horses appeared to not be firing on all cylinders that week.

If Western Fold does run in the Grand National it would be by far the longest distance he has ever tried in a race so stamina for Aintree would have to be taken entirely on trust and given how he weakened at Cheltenham it would take a leap of faith to believe the four and-a-half miles would bring out the best in him.

Firefox has been campaigned predominantly over distances short of three miles for the majority of his career with trainer Gordon Elliott only stepping him up in distance in his last two races. His first attempt at three miles was in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Leopardstown where he finished a very credible fourteen lengths fourth behind Fact To File, Gaelic Warrior and Galopin Des Champs. That effort encouraged Elliott to run the eight-year-old in the Cheltenham Gold Cup but this time he was more comprehensively defeated into twenty-six length sixth place where he appeared not to stay the 3m 2f distance. Obviously that is such a high-class race that he may simply have been outclassed but he didn’t scream out that he wanted to go four miles plus in the Grand National.

Supporters for the Grand National will point to the fact that his sire, Walk In The Park, has sired an Aintree Grand National winner amongst many other hardy stayers but it the fact that Elliott has also entered the gelding in the Topham Chase at Aintree over 2m 5f it could be he intends to drop the horse back down in trip.