This Means More is a slogan coined in Liverpool not so long ago. It was created about one of this city’s football teams but it fits beautifully with the Randox Grand National.
Racing never stops. We are spoilt with the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot and all those historic Classics but the one everyone wants to win, whether you are a champion trainer such as Willie Mullins or a once-a-year punter, is the Aintree extravaganza. That’s why it means more.
Yes, the Grand National has been under the microscope in recent years. I’ve been interviewed a lot about it in the build-up to this Festival, which continues to grow from strength to strength, and dealt with people telling me that it isn’t the race it was.
It certainly isn’t the event I grew up worshipping, with fences that seemed as big as mountains, but it can’t be that race. It’s had to modernise, particularly so after the running in 2023 when, for the first time in my life, I felt uncomfortable watching.
Plenty will tell you that the 2024 renewal was too comfortable to watch but let me put it another way: when the field swung for home and there were a dozen horses in contention, do you think those who tune in as an annual tradition were worried about how many were Mullins runners?
The vast majority of the people inside Aintree, or the huge audience watching at home, won’t care at 4pm about the size of the fences or whether one owner has a handful of runners. They just want to see their horse win and enjoy the spectacle.
The one race everyone wants to win is the Grand National because it means more
A win for Idas Boy (above) would be the stuff of dreams, but there are amazing stories behind many other runners, too
Last year’s winner I Am Maximus has a compelling claim to win but nothing is a guarantee
This event remains a national treasure. Our audience on ITV will be at least three times as big as we get on Cheltenham Gold Cup day and I will argue with anyone, anywhere, that this remains the most exciting 10 minutes of sport you can see.
So who wins it? Last year’s winner I Am Maximus has hugely compelling claims. Sir Anthony McCoy, my colleague, has spoken with increasing sweetness about him and it is noticeable how Mullins, his trainer, has been puffing out his chest.
If you think the fact I Am Maximus has been backed into favouritism makes this plotline predictable, think again. Nothing in racing is predictable. You saw that last month at Cheltenham and you saw it again on Thursday when Constitution Hill hit the floor again.
Believe me, finding the winner is harder than ever. Go back 20 years, and you could immediately rule out half the field but, this year, you would do well to rule out half-a-dozen of the 34 runners. This is a classy race, full of Grade One winners and quality.
The man with the key to it all is Gavin Cromwell, the trainer of the season. My admiration for him is huge and he is looking to join a select group who have won the Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year after Inothewayurthinkin scooted clear at Cheltenham last month.
Cromwell could have run Inothewayurthinkin but instead saddles three: Stumptown, Vanillier and my fancy, Perceval Legallois, who has been targeted at the Grand National since he won impressively at Leopardstown over Christmas.
The vibes are strong for him and you can be sure he will be in the mix. A bold show from Vanillier, who comes to Aintree in the form of his life, is not out of the question. He was second two years ago before disappointing 12 months ago but he ran well at Cheltenham last month.
Gavin Cromwell holds the key with three runners: Perceval Legallois, Stumptown, and Vanillier
Ed Chamberlin explains why the Grand National is a British treasure
We have become used to Irish stables winning our biggest races — it’s a decade since an English trainer won the National — but the home defence this year is stronger than it has been for some time, with Kandoo Kid leading the way for Paul Nicholls.
Nicky Henderson runs Hyland, a grey horse who will love the sound underfoot conditions, and is trying to gloss his incredible training career by ending a 46-year barren run in the National. After everything that has happened with Constitution Hill, nobody would begrudge him a change of luck.
Another fabulous story would be trainer Richard Phillips and owner John Rosbotham winning with Idas Boy: they have been dreaming of this possibility since at junior school 55 years ago and the celebrations would be wild if this plan comes off.
I’m like you, I’d love to back the winner. But I won’t mind the horses I’ve backed coming nowhere if we get some romance. The one thing the National needs is romance, the dream that anyone can win the people’s race. Come 4.10pm, I hope I’m telling an amazing story.
Ed Chamberlin is a SkyBet UK ambassador
