Taurus Grand National Horses

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.

Lifetime Ambition has been a slow burner, taking seven attempts to break his maiden over hurdles but is now a four-time winner, including a Grade Three victory in a novice chase at Limerick last season. He has been a model of consistency since then, not finishing out of the first four in any of completed races to date, which included a fourth place in the Sefton over the Aintree fences and a runner-up spot behind The Big Dog in the Troytown at Navan. Jessica Harrington was interviewed before last year's Grand National and was very positive about Lifetime Ambition's chances but sadly we didn't get to find out how he would have done as a loose horse caused him to unseat his rider at the ninth fence. Up to that point the eight-year-old was jumping well and seemed to be enjoying himself so it seems likely that Harrington will aim the gelding at Aintree again next season.

Nicky Henderson’s runners can usually be found very near the top of the market but not so with Mister Coffey who finds himself a fair way down the price list, probably due to his trainer’s very poor record in this race. Henderson has had two horses finish runner-up in the National - Zongalero in 1979 and The Tsarevich in 1987 - but since then it has been very lean pickings for the master of Seven Barrows. Since 1998 Henderson has had twenty-four runners in the Grand National with none of those horses making the top four. In fact, only five of those runners completed the course with the best finish being Liberthine who finished fifth in 2007.  So, due to Henderson’s awful record in this race, Mister Coffey may be unfairly overlooked. The horse has also been called some names as some pundits have questioned his resolution in a finish, something that does seem to be confirmed by his record of six second place finishes from fifteen attempts. Mister Coffey won three of his first four races but has failed to make the winners’ enclosure since then. The other side of the coin is that he has only failed to make the first four home twice in those fifteen runs so might appeal as an interesting each-way play or a place only bet.  The eight-year-old gelding does have some decent form having finished runner-up in last season’s Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival (usually a good trial for the National) and finishing second to the improving Guetapan Collonges in a decent race at Uttoxeter where the front two finished ten lengths in front of the rest of the field. Mister Coffey also finished third last month in the National Hunt Chase (another traditionally good trial for Aintree). Henderson also gave the gelding a spin over the National fences last season in the Topham where he went off the 5/1 favourite but trailed in a disappointing fifty-eight lengths behind the winner that day. No explanation could be found for that poor showing but the gelding had lost his front-right shoe.  Mister Coffey is a young horse with decent form in some good trial races for the National and has experience of completing the course in a race over the National fences. If the curse of Nicky Henderson’s runners in the National does not put you off he could be a decent each-way play at a reasonably big price.