Grand National 2023 favourites

On Saturday, 15 April, all eyes will be on Aintree near Liverpool, England. The Grand National takes place, and it’s an event that attracts a huge amount of interest worldwide. Can Noble Yeats make it two wins in a row? Let’s look at the likely winners for 2023.

Noble Yeats

The Grand National regularly produces a great story and an exciting race. That was the case last year when the 50/1 shot Noble Yeats won the race ahead of Any Second Now and Delta Work. Noble Yeats was ridden by the amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen, who was participating in his last race.

A year on, the eight-year-old is much more fancied than last year when he was the highest-priced winner since 2013 when Auroras Encore won at 66/1.

Winning the Grand National in successive years has only been achieved by nine horses. Only Red Rum  has won the race on three occasions, and this year marks 50 years since his first win. As he was gelded, he was never used for breeding horses.

Noble Yeats has a massive task on his hands because he’s not just battling the legendary Aintree fences but the handicapper too. Last year he carried 10 st 10lbs around Aintree, but this year he’s been given a weight of 11st 11lbs.  

Five of the last six Grand National winners have had a weight below 11st. Noble Yeats loves Aintree and has won there again since his triumph last year. He recently finished fourth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but his huge weight is a big concern.

Such is the appeal of the Grand National that it attracts the interest of people who rarely ever bet throughout the rest of the year. For bookmakers, it is one of the biggest races of the year. Online revenue will be enormous and remember, sites like bet365 have multiple ways to bet on sports.

Corach Rambler

This nine-year-old, trained by Lucinda Russell, is the current favourite to win the 2023 Grand National. Russell knows how to train a Grand National winner, having done so with One for Arthur six years ago.

Corach Rambler only has 10st 5lbs to carry around Aintree. That’s a stone less than when winning the Ultima Handicap at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, his fourth win in nine chases. That includes winning a novices’ chase at Aintree in 2021.

The Grand National is run over a distance of four miles and three and a half furlongs. Corach Rambler has never gone further than three miles and five furlongs. Whether he can be effective over this longer distance is the big question.

Delta Work

Irish trainer Gordon Elliott has won three Grand Nationals. Two of those were with Tiger Roll, the last horse to win two successive Nationals. His best hope of a fourth win is Delta Work, who finished third last year. He was 22 lengths behind Noble Yeats but was giving him 12lbs. This year sees him receiving 7lbs from the 2022 winner.

2023 has already produced another cross-country win at the Cheltenham Festival, and we know he gets this marathon distance. Another good run is likely this year.

The outsiders

The Grand National is not a race that is regularly won by the favourite. Of the last 13 winners, all but Tiger Roll in 2019 (the last favourite to win) have been returned at odds of at least 10/1. After the 50/1 win for Noble Yeats last year, could we see another big-priced winner?

Could Our Power spring a surprise in the 2023 Grand National? Trained by Sam Thomas, this eight-year-old will arrive at Aintree chasing a hat-trick of wins. Success has already come at Ascot and Kempton this season, and he’s been allocated a weight of 10st. If getting the distance, a big run is possible.

Any Second Now went off as favourite last year but finished second. The 11-year-old has a weight of 11st 12lbs but was giving 11lbs to Noble Yeats last year, and it’s just 1lb this time around. Any Second Now won last month at Navan, and if there’s plenty of rain in the coming week, they would have a good chance in the Grand National.

Coko Beach finished eighth in the 2022 Grand National. The Gordon Elliott runner led early on but finished 66 lengths behind the winner. However, a left-hind shoe was lost, so that explains his run. He receives 11lbs from Noble Yeats, and at around 33/1, all his shoes intact could at least run into a place.

Category: International