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“I’ll ask it again and again until they change this stupid rule, which they will never do.
But why do they release the GN weights so early? What possible benefit does it have?”The Grand National weights are released early to ‘raise the excitement’ and encourage the betting markets to be active and engaged early.
The timing of the weights might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s just the way it is.
Given that the GN is now just another, albeit richly/over-rewarded, chase, completely overshadowed by Cheltenham, like QF I fail to see why there is any special treatment regarding the weights. Since the bookmakers are so gutless in standing any ante-post bets I don’t see what the point is in pretending this is still an event that captures the public interest as it did in the past.
I suspect if they changed the weight date it could potentially impact on numbers at Cheltenham in those staying chases, handicap and graded. If Aintree was the original intended target for the Gold Cup winner, does he actually run in a Gold Cup and risk put his mark up by a stone? Same for things like Corach Ramblers winning year, possibly doesnt run in the Ultima too that year maybe? It won’t just be Cheltenham either, there are other big staying handicap chases prior to Cheltenham that could see numbers suffer
I think the point is that the GN is now just a shell of the race it used to be. If it wasn’t so over-endowed with prize money despite being a relatively run of the mill race it wouldn’t have such an effect on these other races
2026 Grand National weights
1. I Am Maximus 11-12 (168)2. Banbridge 11-11 (167)
3. Nick Rockett 11-11 (167)
4. Gerri Colombe 11-10 (166)
5. Grangeclare West 11-10 (166)
6. Grey Dawning 11-10 (166)
7. Haiti Couleurs 11-10 (166)
8. L’Homme Presse 11-8 (164)
9. Spillane’s Tower 11-8 (164)
10. Impaire et Passe 11-5 (161)
11. Appreciate It 11-4 (160) – Retired
12. Firefox 11-4 (160)
13. Gentlemansgame 11-3 (159)
14. Monty’s Star 11-3 (159)
15. Spanish Harlem 11-3 (159)
16. Lecky Watson 11-2 (158)
17. Champ Kiely 11-1 (157)
18. Favori de Champdou 11-1 (157)
19. Flooring Porter 11-1 (157)
20. Iroko 11-1 (157)
21. Western Fold 11-1 (157)
22. Three Card Brag 11-0 (156)
23. Handstands 10-13 (155)
24. Oscars Brother 10-13 (155)
25. Mr Vango 10-12 (154)
26. Beauport 10-11 (153)
27. Better Days Ahead 10-11 (153)
28. High Class Hero 10-11 (153)
29. Ile Atlantique 10-11 (153)
30. Resplendent Grey 10-11 (153)
31. Stellar Story 10-11 (153)
32. Captain Cody 10-10 (152)
33. French Dynamite 10-10 (152)
34. Jagwar 10-10 (152)
35. Gorgeous Tom 10-9 (151)
36. Perceval Legallois 10-9 (151)
37. Quai de Bourbon 10-9 (151)
38. The Real Whacker 10-9 (151)
39. Answer To Kayf 10-8 (150)
40. Croke Park 10-8 (150)
41. Jordans 10-8 (150)
42. Blizzard of Oz 10-7 (149)
43. Now Is The Hour 10-7 (149)
44. Intense Raffles 10-6 (148)
45. Final Orders 10-5 (147)
46. Marble Sands 10-5 (147)
47. Panic Attack 10-5 (147)
48. Top of The Bill 10-5 (147)
49. Blaze The Way 10-4 (146)
50. Johnnywho 10-4 (146)
51. Leave of Absence 10-4 (146)
52. Twig 10-4 (146)
53. Pied Piper 10-3 (145)
54. Search For Glory 10-3 (145)
55. Stolen Silver 10-3 (145)
56. Ain’t That A Shame 10-2 (144)
57. Amirite 10-2 (144)
58. Imperial Saint 10-2 (144)
59. Harry des Ongrais 10-1 (143)
60. Hyland 10-1 (143)
61. Soul Icon 10-1 (143)
62. Yeah Man 10-1 (143)
63. Myretown 10-0 (142) – Confirmed won’t run
64. Deep Cave 9-13 (141)
65. Monbeg Genius 9-13 (141)
66. O’Moore Park 9-13 (141)
67. Pic Roc 9-13 (141)
68. Buddy One 9-12 (140)
69. Mister Coffey 9-12 (140)
70. Anyway 9-11 (139)
71. The Short Go 9-10 (138)
72. Shanbally Kid 9-9 (137)
73. Weveallbeencaught 9-9 (137)
74. Will Do 9-9 (137)
75. In d’Or 9-7 (135)
76. Deafening Silence 9-6 (134)
VF x
Notwithstanding my relative disdain for the race I’ve had a few tiny bets on the exchange for Twig, Champ Kiely and Deep Cave, plus small ews on Beauport and Therealwhacker at 100-1!
Oh, and I had to take Ladbrokes at 6-4 on Mike covering the entire field with free bets! 👀Captain Cody is my main fancy at this stage – 10-10 is a cracking weight.
Also on the short list for me are Spanish Harlem, Haiti Couleurs and, despite history being against her, Panic Attack if she gets in.
I noticed captain Cody got a nice weight. Mr Vango has to considering he been carrying too weight in handicaps all season, though he would want that softer ground conditions on the day
Vf x
I just don’t think Cody is good enough , your talking graded horse nowadays and he isn’t that
“I just don’t think Cody is good enough , your talking graded horse nowadays and he isn’t that”
Came 6th in the bumper at Cheltenham Festival in which Fact to File came 2nd. Won a G2 novice hurdle over 2m4f very easily. Came 3rd in the Drinmore won by Romeo Coolio. He’s not going to win a gold cup but he doesn’t disgrace himself in graded company and he’s getting a stone from all the grade 1 types.
“I just don’t think Cody is good enough , your talking graded horse nowadays and he isn’t that”
He has the potential to be better than his mark he’s young enough and in the right hands. There are others in the race that fall in to that category.
Mullins has actual graded horses in here , Lecky Watson is a prime Mullins hidden horse , lovely weight and in a different class to Cody
I like Lecky Watson a lot too, I think he’s potentially had a bit of the handbrake treatment and I wonder if Stellar Story is another case for Elliott. They’d be my main two fancies at the moment, neither run in a handicap yet, neither gone beyond 3m but I think they’ll both thrive for it. Gorgeous Tom comes from that same Brown Advisory race which didn’t look the strongest at the time and I don’t think it was for a Brown Advisory but they’ve handicapped it lower than typical too. I’m less keen on him because he’s had a go in a big handicap already in the Hennessy and similar sentiments for Quai De Bourbon who unseated in that same Brown Advisory, obviously already had a go and been placed in an Irish National.
One who I genuinely couldn’t have is Iroko mainly because I can’t think of many who run well in the race in defeat and come back and do better with more weight a year later, just rarely happens and plenty seem to try and get backed.
How about Jordans:
“O’Brien said: “He looks like he might sneak in off a nice weight. He kind of has a profile of what the race seems to be trending towards in recent years, with a slightly younger horse.
“We know that he handles Aintree and he’ll probably run in the Bobbyjo Chase [at Fairyhouse on Saturday 21st February]. If he runs well there it would be likely that he would go to the National.”
Second in the Faugheen, second in the Mildmay. Has had 9 chase starts if you include his French runs, so not completely wet behind the ears. Won a G3 novice chase over 2m2f so can jump at a bit of speed. Bits and pieces of stayers in the pedigree- you can do worse than Coastal Path, Network and Garde Royale for stamina.
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