Willie Mullins is so dominant these days that as well as winning countless Grade 1 races, he’s also sweeping up the major handicaps. He won the Irish Grand National on Monday with I Am Maximus. Judging by his comments about one of his Aintree Grand National hopes, you wouldn’t want to rule out the double. Aintree’s Grand National Festival kicks off on Thursday and we’ll have tips available for every race. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Mr Incredible is likely to line up for the big race on Saturday and Willie Mullins couldn’t be happier with him. Mullins sounded confident and said: “I think he has a nice weight for the National.” The Irish trainer highlighted this horse in particular, ahead of his other possible runners. Mullins added: “You have Grade 1 form with Capodanno and Gaillard Du Mesnil, but I think Mr Incredible is a nice horse and his run in Warwick puts him right there.”
Weight can often be an even bigger factor than normal in the Grand National. You don’t want your horse to have to carry a heavy burden over an extended 4m2f, whilst jumping those huge fences. Willie Mullins is clearly very happy with his allotted weight of 10st 4lb. It has to be said that he looks very well-handicapped on the evidence of his recent form.
He stayed on well when finishing second to Iwilldoit in the Classic Chase at Warwick. The fact that he was doing all his best work late there bodes well for the step up in trip at Aintree. His latest run at Cheltenham was solid and he finished third in the Kim Muir. That run should have put him spot on for this and connections will be looking forward to the big day.
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