Before we enter dream world proper, for a few hundred yards of Saturday’s four miles and two and a half furlongs of the Randox Grand National, my own silly dream tip looked almost a possibility, writes Tony Stafford.
The 13-year-old Celebre d’Allen had jumped into the lead at the third fence from home apparently still going and above all jumping well. All those safely negotiated jumps (57 before Saturday and another 30 now) were apparently combining to make the impossible come true.
Admittedly, the Irish and especially Willie Mullins hordes were grouping, but Michael Nolan turned into the final short straight – there’s also an elbow of course, in the lead. Then, the few agonising strides to the penultimate fence were enough for the bubble to burst, but what a showing, Celebre giving his everything.
That 150/1 last Monday had only been trimmed by a relatively small margin to 125/1 and a friend got me at least double the 150/1 on Betfair, admittedly for peanuts. Then the old legs tired, the Philip Hobbs/ Johnson White Aintree warrior and phenomenon ran out of puff and pulled up on the run-in.
His implosion left the way clear for a Willie Mullins 1-2-3 and for good measure 5-7. It was led off by Nick Rockett (33/1), last year’s winner I Am Maximus (7/1, 2nd favourite) and Grangeclare West, also 33/1. The Trifecta paid £6,850 for a £1 stake.
Had the one UK-trained horse to finish in the first nine, the Josh Guerriero/Oliver Greenall 13/2 favourite Iroko (4th, in the McManus colours) and Henry de Bromhead’s Senior Chief (40/1 in sixth place) behaved themselves, this would have been a superdoopafecta (super is 4) to eclipse the 42-year-old feat of Michael Dickinson’s Famous Five in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
I suggested to one trainer yesterday that I thought this, as it stood, beat the Tricky Dicky achievement. He wasn’t so sure, saying: “Mullins has 300 horses to work with. The Dickinsons had probably around 50, so for Michael to sort them out to do what they did in a highly competitive 11-horse field was incredible”.
Three hundred to pick from is one thing. To get the right five, mostly high in the handicap, was amazing. Several post-race questions immediately came to mind, firstly how could a horse trained by the master and fresh from winning successively the Thyestes Chase, for many years one of the prime trials in Ireland for Aintree, and then the Bobbyjo Chase, be allowed to start at 33/1? Crazy, why didn’t we find it instead of messing around with 150/1 13-year-olds?
There is no question that Walk In the Park, listed as “private” as regards his fee at Coolmore’s Grange Stud since relocating there in 2016 from France, where his last fee was €1,500, is still the most coveted stallion of jumps horses. He sired the eight-year-old Nick Rockett – the only one of the 34 in the field by him.
Several times over the winter, before and after the publication of the weights, I’ve been moved to question how home trainers can ever get their horses into the race. There were a few more than expected this time, but apart from Iroko, only Twig (10th), Beauport (12th), Horantzau d’Airy (13th), Bravemansgame (15th) and Chantry House, last of 16 to get round, completed the course.
When you think Twig never got into the heat of the action and was more than 40 lengths behind the winner, yet miles in front of the other four to survive, you can see the problem.
It’s no longer the fences. Only two fell in the hunter chase on Thursday and there were no fallers in the Topham on Friday, both admittedly over almost a full circuit less than the big race. Twenty-three got round in the Topham and on the fast ground it was a thriller all the way to the line as Mullins/McManus’ Gentleman De Mee got up near the post. Six pulled up and one unseated.
Apart from the big race, Mullins’ 30 runners over the three days yielded eight wins, only one of which, Green Splendour (100/30) completing a double from the big race for Willie’s son Patrick in the finale, started favourite. Indeed, only three of his horses on the week were market leaders. It must have been unique when none of his four winners that led off Thursday’s card started favourite.
Dan Skelton also provided three favourites, in his case from 19 runners over the three days, but a single win has meant his lead over Mullins in the trainers’ title race, once around £1.5 million, has been cut to not much more than 100 grand.
The five Mullins Grand National runners nicked, thanks principally to Nick Rockett, £860k. Not a bad day’s work.
Mullins has already stated that he will have a go at retaining his title and, knowing his voracious, if genial nature, he’s odds on to do it.
You might not have noticed, but there was another big-money card going on over in Dubai on Saturday. No doubt Frankie Dettori was aware of the sudden burst of “where did it all go wrong” stories in the UK press and social media over his filing for bankruptcy.
Also, I’m sure the HMRC executives that have pursued the claim might have been watching – do they do a two- or three-day week these days and Saturdays are no doubt sacrosanct? They might have been getting excited and checking whether Dubai earnings are retrievable by UK authorities as Frankie’s 40/1 mount, the US-trained Mixto, went for home with a good lead in the Dubai World Cup.
Then, irritatingly for the veteran Italian, along came another US-trained and fellow 5yo, Hit Show, for Brad Cox and rider Florent Geroux to steal the £5.5 million first prize. Hot favourite at 4/9 was Forever Young who pretty much plodded home for third. Frankie must be content with his share of the £1.9 million second spot, adding to the chunk of the £443k of the Godolphin Mile he won on Raging Torrent for US trainer Doug O’Neill.
While there seems to have been fewer UK horses running there this year – I haven’t done an analysis to check that - Jamie Osborne has been as busy in the desert state as ever in 2025. He went close with daughter Saffie to winning the UAE Derby, their Heart Of Honor being nosed out by Japanese-trained Admire Daytona. No doubt Jamie will have the Kentucky Derby on his mind for this horse who so clearly enjoys the dirt.
The most handsome earner for the UK though was, unsurprisingly, William Haggas. His Majloom, albeit Maktoum-owned, a 33/1 shot ridden by Tom Marquand, collected £400k for finishing 3rd to another Japanese winner, Soul Rush, who caught and passed 2/5 shot Romantic Warrior on the line in a finish of seven-year-olds for the ten-furlong Dubai Turf.
Meanwhile, back home in Japan there was a £1.5 million winner’s pot for a ten-furlong Group 1 race on the turf. Bellagio Opera was the winner. If you doubted the strength of the racing and also the breeding programmes that are the base line for Japanese racing, all 15 of the runners were domestic-bred and only two of their sires were bred anywhere but in Japan. It’s been a long-term programme and overseas wins show just how well it is working and will continue to do so.
- TS
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