Looking forward to the 2027 Grand National inevitably involves a degree of clairvoyance. Indeed, the nature of National Hunt racing is such that it must be a shade of odds against naming a runner in the 2027 Grand National, never mind one that has a realistic chance of winning the world-famous steeplechase. However, it is common for horses to run in the Grand National year after year, so it is conceivable that younger horses that have demonstrated their credentials at Aintree, or elsewhere, could still be plying their trade at a sufficiently high level to warrant serious consideration.

It is worth noting that, at the time of writing, all of the last 10 Grand National winners were aged seven, eight or nine. However, looking back a little further, since the turn of the century Monty’s Pass, Numbersixvalverde, Silver Birch, Don’t Push It and Ballabriggs were all 10-year-olds, Red Marauder, Neptune Collonges, Auroras Encore and Pineau De Re were all 11-year-olds and Amberleigh House was a 12-year-old.

The first three in the current ante-post betting for the 2026 Grand National, Haiti Couleurs, I Am Maximus and Iroko, will be 10, 11 and nine, respectively, by the time the 2027 renewal rolls around, while the 2025 winner, Nick Rockett, will also be 10. Barring accidents, any of that quartet could figure, but it is worth noting that the minimum age for entry in the Grand National is seven, as it has been since 2012, so there is still time for an up-and-coming staying chaser to develop into a bona fide Grand National contender.

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Willie Mullins, for example, has been the perennial champion trainer in his native Ireland since 2007/08 and, more recently, champion trainer on the opposite side of the Irish Sea in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. Mullins saddled his first Grand National winner, Hedgehunter, back in 2005 but, having increased his emphasis on the Britsh trainers’ title, entered eight horses in 2024, winning with I Am Maximus, and seven in 2025, winning with Nick Rockett.

Likewise, Gordon Elliott, whose dominance of Irish National Hunt Racing is second only to that of Mullins, has saddled three Grand National winners, namely Silver Birch, in 2007, and Tiger Roll, who was a back-to-back winner in 2018 and 2019. The Cullentra House trainer was, like Mullins, mob-handed in the Grand National in 2024 and 2025 and, if he continues in similar vein, further success is surely only a matter of time.

Domestically, Scottish trainer Lucinda Russell, who nowadays holds a joint licence with Michael Scudamore, does not operate on quite the same scale as her Irish counterparts, but nonethless has two Grand National winners to her name, courtesy of One For Arthur, in 2017, and Corach Rambler, in 2023. Derek Fox, who rode both Russell-trained winners, is the only jockey to have won the National more than once in the last 20 years. Former champion jockeys Harry Skelton, 36, and Sean Bowen, 28, have both drawn a blank in the Grand National from 10 rides apiece, so far, but may still have chances to break their duck, as may the likes of Mark Walsh, 39, and Sam Twiston-Davies, 33.

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