Agree moehat. I am not that bothered about Mullins training the winner but McManus is now going into the race mob handed and has had three of the last six winners.
Maybe we are being a bit sentimental but a large part of the Grand National’s appeal was that the “little man” had a chance. Plenty of so called smaller trainers and journeyman jockeys have won the race. And a lot of the winning owners were not people with hundreds of horses in training.
If that is now disappearing and the race is going to be dominated by the powerhouses, I think it does diminish the race as an event.
On the plus side, at least the race was a more exciting spectacle this year and all the horses were OK.