Irish dominance at Aintree set to continue
2X3JANG Winning trainer Willie Mullins poses with the Champion Trainer trophy after Minella Cocooner won the bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase / Alamy.
Irish horses have maintained a stranglehold on the Grand National at Aintree in recent times and that could be set to continue as 48 of the 78 entries for Grand National 2026 are trained on the Emerald Isle.
Six of the last seven Aintree Grand Nationals have been won by horses based in Ireland, with Willie Mullins bagging the last two renewals with I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett, major successes that helped the Closutton powerhouse secure back-to-back trainers’ championships in Britain.
Both the 2024 and 2025 winners feature amongst a possible 15 from Mullins’ base in Co Carlow, while Gordon Elliott has a dozen-strong list of possibles from his Cullentra House operation in Co Meath.
Mullins lining up another strong team
Mullins has tripled his tally of Aintree National winners in the last two years, the wins of I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett adding to the 2005 success from Hedgehunter.
In 2025, the record-breaking trainer sent out a staggering five of the first seven finishers as I Am Maximus was a gallant second in defence of his crown and Grangeclare West, Meetingofthewaters and Minella Cocooner all ran big races.
The previous two winners are entered once more and Mullins also counts stars like Appreciate It, Blizzard Of Oz, Captain Cody, Champ Kiely, Grangeclare West, High Class Hero, Ile Atlantique, Impaire Et Passe, Lecky Watson, O’Moore Park, Quai De Bourbon, Shanbally Kid and Spanish Harlem in his potential arsenal of Grand National runners for the contest on 11th April.
Elliott’s hopes of history
Gordon Elliott is serving it up to Mullins in the race to be champion trainer in Ireland this season. He leads the way and has amassed more prize money at this stage of a season than ever before.
If either he or Mullins are successful at Aintree, they will equal the record of four National victories by a trainer currently jointly held by George Dockeray, Fred Rimell and Ginger McCain.
The overall Aintree entry is down from 90 last year and 94 in 2024 to 78 this time around and that is reflected too in Elliott’s possible squad. He has a dozen in the mix, compared to 26 entries in 2024 and 16 last year.
The Elliott entry is made up Beaufort Scale, Better Days Ahead, Croke Park, Favori De Champdou, Firefox, Gerri Colombe, Pied Piper, Search For Glory, Stellar Story, Three Card Brag, Western Fold and Will Do.
Three Card Brag finished 11th in the race in 2025, the best Elliott could manage on the day, and has shown excellent form in three runs since his summer break.
He was second to Spanish Harlem in the Kerry National in September at Listowel, won at Cheltenham in October and then took a silver medal in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in November.
Britain has the favourite
The likes of Amirite, Gorgeous Tom, Harry Des Ongrais, Monty’s Star and The Short Go could represent Henry de Bromhead, who won the race in 2021 with Minella Times under Rachael Blackmore.
Meanwhile Gavin Cromwell has included Final Orders, Flooring Porter, Now Is The Hour, Perceval Legallois and Yeah Man, but not the 2025 Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin.
The Irish challenge is plenty strong but it is Iroko for joint-trainers Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero that heads the ante-post betting at 7/1 as he looks to better last year’s fourth in the race.
Anthony Vella
