Grand National Lucky Dip

Noble Yeats broke one of the longest running stats regarding the Grand National when he won last year's big race as a seven-year-old. Horses of that age had previously been seen as too inexperienced and this was backed up by the fact that the last winning seven-year-old before this horse was in 1940. Noble Yeats was also a novice, having only started his chasing career the previous October.  Trainer Emmet Mullins had wasted no time though and had managed to fit in seven races over the larger obstacles by the time Noble Yeats lined up at Aintree. The horse had been bought by Robert Waley-Cohen only a month before his Grand National victory where he gave his son Sam a fitting end to his riding career as one of the top Amateur Riders of the last twenty years.  Despite the high-profile new owner and a jockey with one of the best ever records over the Grand National fences, Noble Yeats was allowed to start the big race as a relatively unfancied 50/1 shot. With the benefit of hindsight that was a huge price and it can surely only be that the “seven-year-olds don’t win the Grand National” statistic that put punters off.  Sam Waley-Cohen gave Noble Yeats a patient ride, holding up his horse until starting to make headway after the twelfth fence and he could be seen gradually improving his place until he was tracking the leaders at the Canal Turn on the second circuit. Waley-Cohen pushed Noble Yeats up to dispute the lead at the second last and was then involved in a protracted battle with the 15/2 favourite, Any Second Now,  ridden by Mark Walsh. The two riders gave everything from the second last and Any Second Now briefly had the lead after the last fence but eventually found the task of giving the best part of a stone to his three years younger rival beyond him. The winning jockey announced his retirement from the saddle immediately after the race on what was the perfect way to end his distinguished riding career. Inevitably, after all connections had enjoyed the remarkable feat of winning the biggest race in the world, thoughts turned to 2023.  The handicapper reacted by pushing Noble Yeats up nineteen pounds to his current mark of 166. Grand National winners understandably receive a hefty shunt up the weights so it remains to be seen if this horse can emulate Tiger Roll and win back to back Grand Nationals.  Sean Bowen has been drafted in to replace Waley-Cohen in the saddle and trainer Emmet Mullins has mapped out a very positive programme for Noble Yeats with the horse winning twice already including the Grade Two Many Clouds Chase at Cheltenham. That victory catapulted the eight-year-old into the high points of the Gold Cup betting where he ran really well to be a staying on fourth to Galopin Des Champs. Noble Yeats then ran really well when fourth in the Grand National staying on well from the second last fence.  Noble Yeats' chances for the 2024 Grand National very much depend on how the handicapper treats him when the weights are published in February.