Amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen gives the trophy a kiss after winning last year's Grand National on 50/1 novice Noble Yeats in the last ride of his career.Amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen gives the trophy a kiss after winning last year's Grand National on 50/1 novice Noble Yeats in the last ride of his career.
Amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen gives the trophy a kiss after winning last year's Grand National on 50/1 novice Noble Yeats in the last ride of his career.

Pinstickers' guide to 16 horses who could win the Grand National at Aintree

Whether you study the form, stick a pin in or have a go on the workplace sweep, the Grand National at Aintree is the race to have a little flutter.

So to make your task a little easier, we’ve created this guide and narrowed down the huge field of 40 runners to the 16 most likely to taste glory on Saturday.

The £1 million Randox-sponsored marathon over four miles and two furlongs takes place at 5.15 pm. Televised live by ITV for a global audience of up to 600 million viewers, the action will unfold over 30 fences, many of which have household names, such as Becher's Brook, The Chair, Valentine's Brook and the Canal Turn.

Those fences are not as fearsome as they once were. Quite rightly, animal welfare takes first priority now. But the historic race, which dates back to 1839, is still a thrilling spectacle.

Finding the winner is never easy. In the last 15 years, the National has yielded a 100/1 stunner (Mon Mome), a 66/1 shot (Aurora’s Encore), a 50/1 poke (Noble Yeats), three 33/1 outsiders (Silver Birch, Neptune Collonges and Rule The World) and two 25/1 shots (Pineau De Re and Many Clouds). And last year’s winner, Noble Yeats, defied all logic as he became the first 7yo since 1940 and only the second novice since 1958 to land the spoils.

Noble Yeats is back for more this year, as is Any Second Now, who has been placed in the last two renewals, and Rachael Blackmore who, in 2021 on Minella Times, became the first female jockey to win the race.

Amazingly, that year, ten of the first 11 places were filled by horses trained in Ireland. It was a similar story 12 months ago with seven of the first ten and, once again, Irish handlers such as Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott are well represented. In fact, 27 of the 40-strong field is made up of horses from across the Irish Sea.

Last year, our guide featured five of the first six home, so let’s hope for more of the same! Please note: the 16 horses are listed in alphabetical order. The numbers do NOT relate to the horses’ order on the racecard. And the prices quoted were correct at the time of going to press. Good luck!

MY VERDICT - 1 Le Milos, 2 Gaillard Du Mesnil, 3 Galvin, 4 Our Power, 5 Ain’t That A Shame, 6 Delta Work

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