Ex-Irish Point-to-Pointers look set to feature prominently once again in this year’s Randox Grand National at Aintree, as they bid to win the world’s most famous steeplechase for the fourth year in a row.
Corach Rambler completed the hat-trick last year when he followed in the footsteps of Minella Times and Noble Yeats by leading home a one-two in the Aintree spectacular for Irish pointing graduates, as he had gained his first career success at Monksgange for John Walsh three years earlier.
“We’re sort of prepping him for the National, but the Gold Cup comes first. He’s doing plenty of work at the moment, and then we’ll back off with a couple of weeks left,” his trainer Lucinda Russell said following the publication of the Grand National weights for 2024.
Her partner Peter Scudamore added: “We’re very, very happy with him. We just take it each day at a time. He seems to be enjoying his work – I thought he ran a good race at Haydock.
“He clearly enjoys Aintree. He seems to come together this time of year too.”
The 2022 National hero Noble Yeats admirably finished fourth in his bid to retain his national crown, and his trainer Emmet Mullins hopes there is more to come from him in his third attempt at the national.
“He ran a cracking race off 166 last year, so if we get him back in the same shape, he might get into a place again,” Mullins said. “He’s had two goes at the course before, and he enjoys it there.”
Referring to his next outing at Cheltenham, Mullins continued: “He should be bang there for the Stayers’ Hurdle with a good each-way chance, and fingers crossed he runs his race in that as well.”
Ex-Irish pointers fill the first five positions in the market for the 2024 edition, headlined by last year’s runner-up Vanillier. Bought from Sam Curling after winning a four-year-old maiden in Dromahane, the grey was beaten by just over two lengths in last year’s race and Gavin Cromwell is hoping for more national luck.
“We were obviously thrilled to be second in the Grand National, but when you’re coming home well like that, you do think about what could have been,” he said.
“But it was a great moment. We had lots of luck last year. He went round on the inside and got all the luck – you need luck in every National.
“It’s every trainer’s dream to win the Grand National, and we’ll certainly give it a good shot again this year anyway.
“He’s been trained for this race really, and it’s a case of him coming in the Spring. He is a Spring horse. He’s going to have to improve plenty, but he does have the experience of last year.”
Mahler Mission chased home Velvet Elvis in a four-year-old maiden at Nenagh in 2020 when with Cormac Doyle, and this season’s Coral Gold Cup runner-up could supply his trainer John McConnell with his first Aintree National runner.
“It’s very exciting to be going there with a horse and maybe a horse with a chance as well. I didn’t expect him to be so high. I thought there would be more high-quality horses entered.
Mahler Mission has not been seen on the racetrack since his Newbury exploits and McConnell is considering an outing before Aintree in April.
He explained: “He had a break after that run and he’s back now in full training. There is a possibility that we could give him a hurdle run maybe, but he’s fine and at the minute he’s very well.
“He definitely wouldn’t be going to Cheltenham though. He doesn’t need to be having a hard race before the National.”
