Grand National Lucky Dip

Captain Cody was a useful bumper and hurdle horse (he won a Grade Two novice hurdle) but his biggest win has come over fences when he won the Scottish National last April. Surprisingly though that is the gelding’s only win over fences to date but there is evidence to suggest that he still might be well handicapped enough to have a live chance in an Aintree Grand National.

Winners of the Scottish National do not have a good recent record when attempting Aintree the following season but this Willie Mullins trained chaser has been giving indications that he still has some scope left in his handicap mark. Over Xmas he was well fancied for the valuable Paddy Power handicap at Leopardstown and his jockey that day, Paul Townend, was extremely frustrated with the start of that race as he felt it handicapped his chances of winning (he eventually finished 7^th, beaten less than ten lengths. Captain Cody was then extremely well backed into 7/2 favourite for the Thyestes Chase, another valuable handicap, but only got as far as the fifth fence before falling. Such stable and market confidence for these races suggests that another big win is not that far off for this eight-year-old and whilst his jumping is a cause for concern the fences at Aintree are not the stern test that they used to be.

Captain Cody seems to fall into the category of lightly raced progressive chasers that Willie Mullins has excelled with in the last couple of seasons and this gelding could well be the one to give the master trainer another big win in the Grand National in 2026.