This year’s Grand National at Aintree is set to feature two horses from Scotland as they bid to continue the excellent record Scottish-trained horses have in recent renewals of the steeplechase.
Corach Rambler and Empire Steel both have entries for the marathon event and will travel down to Liverpool with a great chance of landing the top prize. Here is a look at their chances in the race.
Corach Rambler (Lucinda Russell)
Lucinda Russell’s chaser, Corach Rambler, needs no introduction ahead of this year’s Grand National. He won the race in 2023, after finishing the contest strongly. The Scottish-based horse justified favouritism, coming home just over two lengths ahead of Vanillier.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>CORACH RAMBLER WINS THE 2023 GRAND NATIONAL ? <a href=”https://t.co/IXDzrs9BK4″>pic.twitter.com/IXDzrs9BK4</a></p>— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AtTheRaces/status/1647278399298187268?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
The defending champion is the 9/2 favourite in the?betting on Grand National with Paddy Power. If triumphant again this year, he will replicate what Tiger Roll achieved in 2019 by retaining his crown in the race.
Russell’s chaser has been one of the leading?Grand National tips?for this year’s race ever since he finished a creditable third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The two-time Ultima Handicap Chase winner ran in the Blue Riband event in the sport for the first time this season, and he showed he belonged at the highest level. The 10-year-old was staying in strongly when many of his rivals were struggling to see out the distance.
Corach Rambler has been handed 11st 2lb?in the 2024 Randox Grand National weights, an 11lb rise from last year. He is now rated at 162 in the official ratings, the third highest of any runner in the Grand National field.
Empire Steel (Sandy Thomson)
Berwickshire-based trainer Thomson has not had many runners in the Grand National before, so she will be excited to be involved in this year’s race with Empire Steel. Her chaser won his fifth race over fences recently when landing a class two handicap at Kelso. That was his first start since having a wind operation.
The 10-year-old ran in the?Scottish Grand National?last season at Ayr. He finished eighth of the 18 runners in the race won by the Christian Williams-trained Kitty’s Light. That was his first attempt over the distance of 4m.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>? Protektorat is beaten again<br><br>An emphatic victory for Empire Steel who makes it two wins from three starts over fences for <a href=”https://twitter.com/LambdenRacing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@LambdenRacing</a> & <a href=”https://twitter.com/mania450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@mania450</a> at <a href=”https://twitter.com/KelsoRacecourse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KelsoRacecourse</a> <br><br>Results & free replays ? <a href=”https://t.co/sBcsavHpYf”>https://t.co/sBcsavHpYf</a> <a href=”https://t.co/GmgQKHFiaY”>pic.twitter.com/GmgQKHFiaY</a></p>— Racing TV (@RacingTV) <a href=”https://twitter.com/RacingTV/status/1362763296131190788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 19, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
As a novice chaser, Empire Steel featured at the Grand National meeting in 2021 in the Grade One Mildmay Novices’ Chase. He was prominent at the front end of the field in that race on the first circuit but then struggled in the closing stages, before being pulled up by his rider Ryan Mania.
Thomson has also given Empire Steel an entry in the Topham Handicap Chase earlier in the week at Aintree. That will be his backup option if he does not make it into the final field of 34 runners for the Grand National. The Friday race takes place over a short distance of 2m5f.
This year’s Grand National will be the 176th?renewal of the highlight of the National Hunt season. It takes place on the third and final day of the meeting in Liverpool.
