GRANGECLARE WEST
- Trainer: Willie Mullins
- Jockey: Patrick Mullins
- Owner: Cheveley Park Stud
- Age: 10
- National Weight: 11st 10lb
- Season Form Figures: 8481
- National Prep-Race: 1st - Bobbyjo Chase (Grade 3), Fairyhouse (Feb 2026)
”Grangeclare West ran a cracker last year as he pitched badly at the back of the last, reaching for it a touch and it put him on the back foot, allowing the likes of Nick Rockett and I Am Maximus to get away from him, but he finished really well.
He’s only 3lb higher in the ratings this year and will have to carry just 2lb more in physical weight, but I think on what he did in the race last year, all of that is fair.
I was impressed with him in the Bobbyjo (Chase); I thought it was a really good performance and is another horse from Willie’s (Mullins) yard that wouldn’t mind what the ground does. The Bobbjo win was incredibly taking to the eye and he’s set himself up for a big effort at Aintree, given he looked in really good order at Fairyhouse.
It would appear he’s been primed for the race and his Bobbyjo win got an immediate boost when Gerri Colombe went on to win at Down Royal. From what I can see there doesn’t appear to be many negatives and it’s not like he has loads to find on last year’s running.
It’s worth going back and watching the mistake he made at the last, last year, because I remember at the time thinking ‘Oh, that’s him done now, he can’t come back from that’, but it was amazing how much he rattled home and he nearly caught I Am Maximus for second.
At the time I thought it didn’t cost him winning the race though, but having watched it back a few times, I’m now not so sure and there is a bit of me thinking ‘maybe, just maybe, he might have won without the error’. One thing’s for sure, it certainly cost him second.
I really do feel on the back of last year’s National run and given what we saw in the Bobbyjo from him, he is a massive player, and if Paul Townend were to chose him, I could see him going off favourite.
I just get the feeling his whole season has been geared around this race; for me, he is a major player for a big yard; there is lot’s to like.
I can’t see any glaring negatives about his chance, although the stats boys will probably tell you a ten-year-old can’t win it nowadays. Fair enough, the stats say we haven’t had a ten-year-old win in over a decade (Ballabriggs, 2011), but it didn’t look like an aging horse in the Bobbyjo so I wouldn’t let stats put you off him."
The Bottom Line
- Strong Suit
- "He’s been trained for the race and ran a cracker in it last year."
- Weak Spot
- "I don’t think I have found a strong one yet."