Grand National 2026 Tips: Best Bets and Aintree Preview
Grand National 2026 Betting Preview: Best Bets, Value Plays and Dark Horses for Aintree
The Grand National is different to every other race in the calendar. Cheltenham is about class, pace and precision. Aintree on National day is about rhythm, patience, jumping and nerve. It is the one race where almost everyone has an opinion, but it is also the one race where the obvious answer is rarely enough. Forty runners used to line up and chaos used to be the whole story. The modern National is a little more measured, a little more professional, a little more class-based than it once was, but it still asks exactly the same hard question of every horse in the field. Can you travel, can you jump, and can you still find something when the race begins properly after the last?
That is why the Grand National is never just about backing the best horse in the field. It is about backing the right horse for this specific race. Some classy chasers never take to it. Some strong stayers get too far behind and cannot recover. Some obvious contenders burn too much energy too early and are empty by the time they swing for home. You have to build the race from the ground up. Pace, weight, profile, jumping style, stamina, temperament and current handicap position all matter. Then price matters on top of all that.
This year’s renewal looks like a proper modern National. There is no unbeatable superstar. There are some very obvious contenders, some well-backed talking horses, a few previous placed horses returning for another crack, and several improving profiles that make much more sense than their odds suggest. That is exactly the kind of race where you do not need to reinvent the wheel, but you do need to be honest about where the value sits. There is no point writing a Grand National preview that simply tells you the shortest-priced horse has a chance. Of course he does. The real edge is in deciding who is most likely to win, who is most likely to outrun their price, and which popular runners may be just a bit too obvious for their own good.
The first thing to say is that this does not look like an old-fashioned slog. The shape of the week and the current conditions point much more towards a race where rhythm and efficient jumping matter as much as brute stamina. That should push you towards horses that can hold a position, travel within themselves and jump cleanly, rather than horses who need the race to collapse in a heap for stamina alone to drag them into it. That also matters when you start looking at the market. Several of the stronger fancies are there for very good reasons, but some are shorter than they should be because of narrative rather than pure value.
If you are betting the race, it also makes sense to be disciplined. The Grand National has a habit of making people throw too many darts. It is much better to have one main win pick, one or two each-way angles and then leave it there. The worst National strategy is convincing yourself you have covered half the field when really you have just diluted your best opinion. With that in mind, here is how I see the race and the horses that make the most appeal.
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How I have built the race
The Grand National has evolved and that matters. There was a time when people treated it as if it were a lawless marathon where almost nothing from conventional form study mattered. That is not really true now. The race is still unique, but the winner profile has become a lot clearer in the modern era. You want a horse with enough class to travel through a big race, enough stamina to see out more than four miles, but ideally not one that has spent years being exposed in staying handicaps. The best type now is often a horse still progressing, often seven to nine years old, often relatively lightly raced in handicap chases, and often one who has shown a big piece of form after the weights came out.
That matters a lot this year because the market contains a mix of proven National horses and improving handicap types. The proven National horses deserve respect, particularly if they have already shown they can handle the fences and the occasion. But the improving handicap types are often where the real betting edge lives, especially when their recent form suggests they are effectively ahead of their mark. That angle becomes even stronger when the horse also arrives with the right age and weight profile.
So the way I have approached it is simple. First, separate the horses who genuinely fit a modern National profile from the ones who are relying on sentiment, reputation or old form. Then decide which of those profile horses are still reasonably priced. That process keeps bringing me back to the same cluster near the front and middle of the market.
The horses I respect most
I Am Maximus has to be respected. You do not win a Grand National in the style he did and then finish second in the following year’s running without proving you are made for the race. He clearly handles Aintree, he clearly stays, and he has the class to carry a big weight around here. If you are just trying to identify the most likely horse to run his race, he belongs very high on the list. But this is where price discipline matters. He is older now, he is carrying a huge burden again, and while high weights do not put me off in this race the way they once did, they still matter when margins become thin late on. There is also a sense that, while another huge run is perfectly likely, the market is not exactly missing him. He looks more like a horse to place prominently again than one I am desperate to back at a short enough price.
Grangeclare West is a really solid contender and one of the easiest horses in the field to make a straightforward case for. He was third in this race last year, he has the right stable, and he has enough class and stamina to take another big step forward if things fall right. He is one of the more likely horses to simply run well and be there or thereabouts jumping the last. In races like the National that reliability matters. The question is whether reliability alone is enough to justify the price. He looks almost certain to give you a run for your money. Whether he is the one most likely to win is a slightly different question.
Johnnywho is the other obvious big player and the handicap angle around him is strong. He produced one of the standout recent pieces of staying handicap form and comes here with the sort of profile that often matters in this race. He is unexposed enough, talented enough and arrives with fresh momentum behind him. The addition of cheekpieces appeared to help last time, and there is every chance there is a bit more to come. The reason I stop short of making him the main selection is the trip. I can absolutely see him running very well, but the Grand National at full stretch asks a slightly different question from any standard staying handicap. If he gets home strongly, he has a major chance. If he does not quite conserve enough through the middle part of the race, he could still run a big race without quite winning.
Iroko makes loads of sense and I can see exactly why plenty of people will side with him. His previous National form is a plus, he has already shown that he handles this sort of test, and his overall profile still fits the race well enough. He is not just some exposed horse coming back for another spin. There is proper class there. The Ascot run earlier in the season helped his case, and there is a fair argument that a disappointing Cheltenham effort can be forgiven if you believe there was a reason for it. The issue is not whether he can run well. He absolutely can. The issue is whether the price really reflects the fact that he now has less hidden than he did a year ago.
Panic Attack has clearly been the talking horse and the market move tells you plenty. She has been heavily backed because people can see the obvious case. She has won major staying handicaps, she has toughness, and her profile says she has the attitude for a race like this. But this is also where the National can lure people into romance. The market has moved so aggressively that it now demands more than just a good story and a likeable profile. She is no back-number and she could run a huge race, but once an outsider becomes one of the shortest in the betting you have to ask whether the value has already gone.
Monty’s Star is another horse with obvious appeal. He brings Grade 1 form into a handicap, and class horses dropping into races like this often make people sit up for good reason. He has the sort of engine to be involved. But I still have a small reservation about whether the National setup brings out the absolute best in him or just leaves him vulnerable at a key stage when the tempo lifts and the field stretches. He is dangerous, no doubt, but he is not the one I most want to be with.
The horse I keep coming back to
Jagwar is the one that makes the most sense as the main win selection.
The key with Jagwar is that he brings the right blend of class, current momentum, age profile and handicap upside. He is the sort of horse this race increasingly rewards. He is not an exposed old grinder hoping the race becomes a war of attrition. He is not a horse relying on having done it before when others may now have more upside. He is an improving, progressive chaser who has already shown he can mix it in major staying handicaps and who still looks likely to have more to give.
That is a huge plus in the modern National. You want a horse who may still be ahead of the handicapper rather than one whose mark already tells the whole story. Jagwar fits that description really well. The recent Cheltenham run reads strongly, and it also came in the sort of big-field, pressure environment that should help prepare a horse for what this race asks. More than that, the run suggested he still had a bit in the tank. He travelled like a horse with a lot of natural ability and stuck on well enough to leave the impression that a race like this is not beyond him at all.
The obvious concern is jumping. In the Grand National you do not want to be with a horse who has a habit of fiddling or getting in too tight when rhythm matters. That is the one part of the case you have to be honest about. If he gets scrappy at the wrong moments, this race will expose it. But that concern is already known and partly baked into the conversation around him. When I weigh it all up, it still does not override the positives. He has class, he has a progressive profile, he arrives in the right sort of form, and he does not look like a horse already maxed out. In a race full of respected contenders, that is enough to make him the one I most want on side.
There is another reason I like him. He is the sort of horse that can still improve for the race rather than merely reproduce old form in it. That is a massive difference. Lots of Grand National previews overrate the horses who have already shown their full hand and underrate the ones who could step forward under these exact conditions. Jagwar feels like the latter. That is why he comes out top.
Best each-way play
Iroko just edges this category for me, though it is close.
For an each-way bet you want something different from a straight win selection. You want a horse with a strong probability of being in the finish even if they do not quite have the same upside as your main pick. Iroko fits that well. He already has meaningful National form, he stays, and he has the kind of tactical flexibility that matters in this race because things can go wrong around you and you still need the ability to recover.
I would not say he is thrown in. I would not say the market has missed him. But I do think he has one of the safer place profiles in the race. If the race unfolds cleanly for him and he gets into that long, grinding rhythm from halfway, he is very easy to picture still being there between the last two fences. In a race where so many horses have either a stamina doubt, a jumping doubt or a class doubt, that kind of reliability is valuable.
It is also worth saying that each-way terms matter massively in the National. This is exactly the sort of race where extra places genuinely change the shape of the bet. So if you are backing Iroko or any of the bigger-priced runners below, shopping around matters.
Best value outsider
Perceval Legallois is the dark horse that keeps making sense.
You do not want to force a longshot in the National just because it feels like the sort of race where outsiders always have to be on the shortlist. Plenty of big-priced horses have no realistic chance. What you want is a horse whose odds feel out of step with the actual chance they have. Perceval Legallois looks much closer to that category than the market might suggest.
There are reasons people will hesitate. He did not complete in last year’s race and there have been mistakes on his record elsewhere too. But the modern National fences are not what they once were, and experience in big-field handicaps still counts for plenty. More importantly, there has been enough in his recent efforts to suggest the ability is still there, and he is now coming in off a mark that looks workable enough to make him dangerous if he gets into a rhythm.
He is not the type you back win-only and expect a serene passage. That is not the game. He is the type you look at and think, if this horse gets round cleanly and holds a position, the price could suddenly look far too big. That is what makes him so interesting. He has enough ability, enough experience and enough handicapping room to outrun his odds by a long way.
If you are the sort of punter who likes one dark horse to carry through the whole build-up, this is the one I would rather be with than a fashionable story horse whose price has already collapsed.
Another outsider with serious upside
Oscars Brother is the other horse I do not want to leave out.
This is a different angle from Perceval Legallois. Perceval is the seasoned big-field handicap type at a big price. Oscars Brother is the less exposed improver, the horse who may be stepping into this sort of race before the handicapper truly knows where the ceiling is. That makes him dangerous in a very different way. In the National, that kind of upside can be lethal if combined with stamina and composure.
What I like most is the sense that there could be more under pressure over this sort of trip than his mark currently captures. If he was coming here as a fully exposed handicapper with the same price, I would not be interested. But he is not. He is a horse who still feels like he is discovering himself, and that matters when so many others in this field are easier to pin down.
He would not be my main each-way play because Iroko looks more solid in that role, but as a secondary long-priced swing he has loads of appeal.
Horses I am a bit wary of at the prices
I Am Maximus is the clearest example. He could absolutely go close again and no one should be shocked if he runs a huge race. But when a horse is older, carrying top weight, and already has so much public form attached to him, you have to ask whether the bet is really as good as the chance. For me, the answer is no. He is one to fear more than one to chase at the current price.
Panic Attack falls into a slightly different version of the same category. The case is obvious, but the market has reacted hard enough that she no longer looks like the same value proposition she did when the support started. That does not mean she cannot run a stormer. It just means I would rather have been on early than pile in now.
Captain Cody has his supporters and I can see why because there is a relevant staying handicap success in the background. But a stronger recent push would have made me warmer to him. As it stands, he feels more like a horse who needs everything to line up perfectly than one I want to back with real conviction.
Monty’s Star is the one I suspect a lot of people will talk themselves into because of class. That might be enough, but I still think there are stronger betting angles elsewhere.
My Grand National shortlist
If I had to rank the runners I most want to be with, it would look like this:
- Jagwar as the main win selection
- Iroko as the strongest each-way play
- Grangeclare West as the solid danger
- Perceval Legallois as the value outsider
- Oscars Brother as the dark horse with upside
That gives you a sensible mix of win, place and price angles without just throwing names at the race for the sake of coverage.
How I would actually bet it
If I were structuring this race with discipline rather than emotion, I would keep it simple.
Main bet: Jagwar win.
Each-way bet: Iroko.
Value outsider: Perceval Legallois each-way.
Small dark-horse play: Oscars Brother each-way if you want one bigger swing.
That is enough. The Grand National is not the race to carry six or seven horses just because the field is huge. If your reading of the race is right, you do not need to cover everything. You just need the horses most likely to match the way you think the race will unfold.
Final verdict
The Grand National still rewards bravery, but not just on the track. It rewards brave punting too, as long as the bravery is grounded in proper race reading rather than random romance. This year’s renewal looks open, but not impossible to attack. The obvious horses all have cases. I Am Maximus is a proven National horse. Grangeclare West is rock solid. Johnnywho brings powerful handicap form. Iroko has a strong course-and-race profile. Panic Attack has the market momentum. But when I strip the race down to the horse who still looks to have the right balance of profile, class, recent form and upside, I keep coming back to Jagwar.
He feels like the modern National horse. Progressive, classy enough, still improving, and arriving in the sort of form that says his mark might not have caught up with him. Around him, Iroko makes plenty of each-way sense, Perceval Legallois is the outsider who looks overpriced, and Oscars Brother is the dark horse who could outrun a big number if things click.
That is the shape of the race for me. Jagwar to win, Iroko each-way, Perceval Legallois as the value swing, and Oscars Brother as the deeper outsider. No need to overcomplicate it, no need to chase every narrative. Just side with the profiles that fit the race and let Aintree do the rest.
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