Rachael Blackmore: Irish Grand National should be a cracking race

Steeped in history

This is a great weekend at Fairyhouse, Easter weekend, Irish Grand National weekend.

The Irish Grand National is one of the highlights on the Irish racing calendar. It's a race every jockey and owner and trainer would love to win. It's so steeped in history, there is incredible footage of the race that goes back years, it has been won by horses who are household names. It's the history of the race that makes it so special.

My best finish in the race was third place on Abolitionist. That was in 2017, the year that Our Duke won it. We couldn't get to Our Duke, who ran out an easy winner, but Abolitionist gave me a great spin. He had won the Leinster National at Naas five weeks earlier, and Ellmarie Holden had him in great form on the day.

The Jukebox Kid has a good profile

The 2026 renewal is shaping up to be a really interesting and competitive race, as you would expect, with a full field of 30 set to line up. Welsh trainer Rebecca Curtis won it last year with Haiti Couleurs, and it's good to see three British-trained contenders this year, The Jukebox Kid, One Big Bang and Monbeg Genius.

It is easy to see why The Jukebox Kid is towards the head of the market. He has a really good profile for the race, a seven-year-old novice who has run just four times over fences. He won the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Chase at Ascot in February, and he seems to be well suited by going right-handed.

My worry about him is that he has raced mainly in relatively small fields. 

I think that it pays to be in the first half of the field from early in the Irish National. There is usually a charge down to the first fence, everyone is trying to get their position, and, if you have a horse who has the pace to hold his position, I think that counts for a lot in this race. You can get shuffled back very quickly if you don't have a horse who is forward, or who has that handicap experience. That would be my worry for The Jukebox Kid, but if he can get out sharp early on and get a nice position that he can retain, that will help him a lot.

Willie Mullins has a strong hand

It is obviously significant that Paul Townend has chosen to ride Kiss Will in front of the other Willie Mullins-trained horses in the race. Kiss Will hasn't won yet over fences, but he has run some good races in defeat. He is another lightly-raced novice who could improve for the step up in trip.

Of the other Willie Mullins horses in the race, I think that Argento Boy and C'Est Ta Chance are the most interesting. You have to draw a line through Argento Boy's run at Cheltenham in the Grade 1 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase last time, but he stayed on well to win a Grade 3 novice chase over three miles and half a furlong at Naas on his previous run. 

C'Est Ta Chance stayed on well too to just get up on the line and win his beginners' chase at Gowran Park on Thyestes Chase day, and he followed up by landing the Grade 3 Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase at Thurles in early March. As lightly-raced novices, they both have good profiles for the race.

Go to battle with Soldier

Better Days Ahead has top weight, but Rob James' claim will reduce his weight by 7lb, and that will be a massive help to him. Gordon Elliott's horse was among the leading staying novice chasers last season, rounding off his campaign by finishing sixth in the Irish National. He has been campaigned more sparingly this season, he has run just twice this term, in the Boyne Hurdle and in the Webster Cup last time, and it looks like this has been his target for a while.

Another horse of Gordon Elliott's, Search For Glory, could go well too at a bigger price. He gave James Smith no chance when he made a mistake at the final fence in the Ultima Handicap Chase at Cheltenham. He would have gone close to winning the race had he not made that mistake and, if the ground doesn't get too soft, he could run a big race, with James Smith taking off 5lb again.

If I had to choose one though, it would probably be Emmet Mullins' horse Soldier In Milan.

He beat last month's Turners Novices' Hurdle winner King Rasko Grey in a bumper at the Punchestown Festival last year, and he was impressive in winning his beginners' chase at Punchestown in February, in which he beat Kiss Will. The fact that Paul Townend has chosen to ride Kiss Will is probably a positive too for Soldier In Milan, indirectly.

He will be owner Paul Byrne's first runner in the Irish Grand National, and it was interesting that he said during the week that he hasn't had a horse who was good enough to run in the race until now, so they obviously have a lot of faith in this horse. If he can get forward and get into a good rhythm early on, he could have a big say.

It should be a cracking race. 

Now read Katie Midwinter's Runner Guide to the Irish Grand National