Pisces Grand National Horses

Gaillard Du Mesnil ran an excellent race in last year’s Grand National, staying on to finish third, seven lengths behind Corach Rambler. That good run at Aintree came on the back of winning the 3m 6f National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham, so stamina is definitely a strong point for this horse. Willie Mullins has campaigned Gaillard Du Mesnil positively winning two Grade Ones over hurdles and a Grade One novice chase at Leopardstown. With a handicap rating in the mid-150s, this grey gelding is likely to continue moving between handicaps and Graded races next season and as he is still only seven years old, he could possibly develop into a Gold Cup candidate. It will be interesting to see if master trainer Mullins targets Aintree as Gaillard Du Mesnil would be a very strong contender once again.

Mr Incredible is another horse trying to emulate Noble Yeats by taking the Grand National as a seven-year-old with relatively little experience over fences. Some punters may take a look at Mr Incredible’s form figures and be concerned to see more letters than numbers (he has refused, pulled up and been brought down in three of his last five runs) but those defeats need to be offset against his last two runs which were very positive.  Willie Mullins sent the horse over to contest the Classic Chase at Warwick in January and Mr Incredible stepped up considerably on his previous efforts when running Welsh Grand National winner Iwilldoit to just under three lengths. That run would go down as one of the best trials and Mr Incredible followed that effort by finishing third in another traditional Grand National trial, the Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival. It looks as if Mullins has found the key to this horse who was trained last season by Henry De Bromhead who only managed to get one low grade novice chase win out of the gelding.  Mr Incredible's handicap mark of 145 for the National is only three pounds higher than his effort at Warwick so he is effectively two pound 'well-in' as he was raised to 147 for Cheltenham. That run in the Kim Muir does not have an effect as the weights for Aintree have already been fixed.  The improvement found by Mr Incredible since the move to Closutton means that Mullins has a well-handicapped chaser on his hands. The stumbling block could be that effort last year where he refused to race. The atmosphere at Aintree is always white-hot so any temperament issues will undoubtedly be put under maximum pressure.