Taurus Grand National Horses

Native River is part of the all conquering Colin Tizzard team with this horse recently winning the £113k Hennessy Gold Cup and earning himself quotes for the Gold Cup and the Grand National. Native River won the Hennessy after an exciting first year over fences where he won a Grade Two novice event at Newbury before finishing a staying on second to Minella Rocco in the four mile National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. That year was crowned with a clear cut win in the Grade One Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree. That excellent first year over fences meant he went into the ultra competitive Hennessy Gold Cup with a stiff looking mark of 155 but Tizzard worked the training oracle again and the six-year-old ran out a well backed half-length winner of one of the most fiercely contested handicaps of the year. Another bump up the ratings looks inevitable for that big win at Newbury and if Native River does run in the Grand National he is likely to find himself close to the top of the handicap which would be a big ask for such a young horse. Native River would be seven years old come the next Grand National and it is well documented what a poor record horses of that age group have at Aintree so it may be that his connections will decide to give him another year before aiming at the National. Stamina would not appear to be an issue for the son of Indian River given his performance in the National Hunt Chase but his jumping can leave a bit to be desired at times and another year of experience could be the best approach.

Acapella Bourgeois is a classy performer having won Graded events over hurdles and fences including when taking the Grade 3 BobbyJo Chase for the last two years. The BobbyJo Chase has been a useful stepping-stone to the Grand National with six winners going on to finish in the first three at Aintree over the past twenty years.  This season he has also confirmed he is in decent form when finishing runner up for the second time to the dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo in the New Year's Day Chase at Tramore in January. Acapella Bourgeois has already proven his liking for a marathon test when finishing a fine seven length third in the Irish Grand National two seasons ago.  Willie Mullins’ eleven-year-old gelding is very versatile as regards ground conditions having won on good, soft, and heavy and he also does not have too many miles on the clock for a horse of his age having had just nineteen chase starts. Willie Mullins won the Grand National back in 2005 with Hedgehunter and has had another four horses finish in the first four places from forty runners over the last twenty years.

Another French import for Willie Mullins who has shown that he possesses plenty of stamina, winning three times from just seven starts over fences for the Mullins yard.  Burrows Saint's best result to date came two seasons ago when landing the Irish Grand National, beating Isleofhopendreams and Acapella Bourgeois, with the first three well clear of the rest of the finishers. Burrows Saint made a trip back to France after that win to run in the French equivalent of the Grand National, where the very testing ground didn’t seem to suit but he still managed a fifth-place finish.  On his return to action last season, he finished behind the useful Fakir D’oudairies over an inadequate trip before being switched to hurdles to land a race at Punchestown. This season began with a second placing, again over hurdles at Clonmel, and then a disappointing sixth placed finish in the Grade Two Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park. Willie Mullins’ reluctance to campaign Burrows Saint in traditional staying chases perhaps suggests the trainer feels his charge’s handicap mark has been worth protecting with Aintree in mind. There can be no question that Burrows Saint looks to have the required stamina given suitable ground, as shown in the Irish National, and his better runs have certainly come on either good or good to soft ground.  Mullins has recently stated that Aintree has been this horse's target since that win at Fairyhouse and he is a fascinating candidate in what looks an extremely competitive renewal of the Grand National.

Any Second Now hails from the Ted Walsh yard, who won the Grand National in 2000 when Ted teamed up with son Ruby to land the race with Papillon.  In last year's Grand National, Any Second Now was sent off the 15/2 second favourite and ran really well to finish third, just over eight lengths behind the winner, Minella Times. Before that race there had been a question mark as regards the gelding’s stamina for the Grand National as in his previous victory he had shown enough speed to win a Grade Two over the minimum trip of two miles. However, the son of Oscar demonstrated that marathon distances are very much within his range at Aintree, especially as he was badly hampered by a faller at the twelfth fence. The hadnicapper has raised Any Second Now by five pounds for his Aintree exploits but a return visit to Liverpool looks very much on the cards next April.  Any Second Now is currently vying for favouritism for the 2022 Grand National and looks certain to be well supported as he tries to go two places better than last year.

Former Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Santini has recently been moved to a new stables by his owners Mr and Mrs Kelvin-Hughes. The nine-year-old has left Nicky Henderson and is now back with Polly Gundry where the gelding originally began his career. Overall season plans seem to be fluid given that the gelding’s final run of last season (pulled up in the Gold Cup) was particularly disappointing. However, Gundry is targeting a 3m 2f handicap at Cheltenham in early December as a starting point for this season.

It’s unlikely you will see an easier winner of a long-distance chase than Secret Reprieve's victory in the recent Welsh Grand National. Trainer Evan Williams had made an excellent job of getting his charge well handicapped and Secret Reprieve could be seen going ominously well just behind the leaders as the field made the turn for home at Chepstow. Jockey Adam Wedge took the lead on the seven-year-old gelding at the third last and from there defeat looked highly unlikely. Secret Reprieve just needed to be kept up to his work to eventually run out a comfortable three length winner from the game The Two Amigos. Connections’ hearts must have been in their mouths though as Secret Reprieve’s girth came undone shortly after he took up the lead and Wedge did exceptionally well to keep the partnership together over the last couple of fences. The jockey had been on the receiving end of two bad falls earlier in the day so managing to steer his mount home in such a high-pressure situation was a tribute to Wedge’s jockeyship. This victory was all the more laudable given that Secret Reprieve’s stamina for this 3m 5f trip was not proven given that the furthest the gelding had previously run was a bare three miles. Secret Reprieve was also noticeably keen in the early stages of the race, giving the impression that the ten pound he has been put up by the handicapper may not be enough to stop his progression. After the victory at Chepstow, focus immediately forwarded to Aintree, especially given the relationship Secret Reprieve’s owners, Mr, and Mrs Rucker, have had with the Grand National. Horses they have owned have been placed an amazing seven times in the big race with State Of Play (three times), Cappa Bleu (twice) and Alvarado (twice) all coming close without actually winning.  Evan Williams was initially reticent to confirm that Secret Reprieve would definitely be heading to Aintree given that the horse is still a novice and a relatively inexperienced seven-year-old. No horse of that age has won the Grand National for over eighty years but after consultation with the owners Secret Reprieve has been given the green light for Aintree. One point of concern could be his jumping which was noticeably low at several fences at Chepstow. Secret Reprieve also doesn’t appear to be the biggest horse from the television pictures so perhaps an Aintree test may not play to his strengths? It will be fascinating to see how Secret Reprieve gets on at Aintree where he is certain to be one of the favourites in the betting.