No English stable has won the greatest prize in the sport since 2015 but the selection has all the attributes required
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t is more than a decade since a Grand National winner was trained in an English stable, as Lucinda Russell, successful twice since 2017 from her yard in County Kinross, is the only trainer to break the Irish stranglehold since Oliver Sherwood’s success with Many Clouds in 2015. The home side put up a much-improved performance at last month’s Cheltenham festival, however, and Jagwar (4.00), one of two major contenders from Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s stable 50 miles the track, could extend the English revival in the biggest race of the season on Saturday.
Jagwar will head to Aintree with all of the attributes you could want to see in a modern-day National winner. He has youth on his side at seven years of age, and remains open to improvement with just eight starts over fences on his record to date.
He has also progressed from one race to the next from his first run in a chase just 18 months ago, and took his form to a new level when sent beyond three miles for the first time at Cheltenham last month. Jagwar was just half a length behind Johnnywho, another of today’s rivals, after a tricky passage through the Ultima Handicap Chase, and looks the more likely of the pair to appreciate the additional mile on Saturday.
