The Cheltenham Festival may be over but there’s still plenty of quality National Hunt racing to look forward to before the season ends. We’re getting to that exciting stage of the season where the Grand Nationals are taking centre stage. With this in mind, we’ve picked out an ante-post selection for the Irish Grand National. Available at a decent price, the horse in question could well be one to watch. Why not check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
It’s not long before Fairyhouse’s Easter extravaganza is upon us and the highlight is the Irish Grand National. Henry de Bromhead’s progressive novice chaser Senior Chief is a fascinating candidate for this year’s race.
He had some fair form as a hurdler last season, winning a maiden and a novice before finishing third at the Punchestown Festival. The seven-year-old has had three starts over fences so far and has shown improvement with every run. It was always going to be a difficult task on his debut over fences and finishing just shy of 20 lengths behind Gaelic Warrior was certainly no disgrace.
Keeping on well when second to Minella Cocooner at Navan next time, he went one better when getting off the mark at Punchestown when last seen. He’s expected to continue progressing and handicaps should be to his liking. A mark of 141 looks workable and a big run is anticipated.
Having won the Grand National at Aintree with Minella Times back in 2021, Henry de Bromhead will be keen to add the Irish equivalent to his already impressive CV. This could well be his year and Senior Chief can be the one to get the job done.
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