Tiger Roll Among 106 Grand National Entries

Nicky Henderson Feb. 3 signaled his intent to correct the one glaring omission on his CV by entering six in the 2021 Randox Grand Nationalwith Ok Corral and Beware The Bear nominated as leading the charge by the champion trainer. 

Dual winner Tiger Roll heads the 106 entries revealed for the Aintree showpiece on April 10. His trainer Gordon Elliott has 16 in the race, while Henderson has the most of any British trainer for the contest he said is "the biggest of the lot."

The Seven Barrows maestro has yet to win a National of any description in Britain or Ireland and cannot think of a better place to break that duck than in the most valuable and historic jumps race in the world—in which he came closest with The Tsarevich, second to Maori Venture in 1987. 

"It's the race isn't it? It's the biggest of the lot," he said. "We've been involved in it for years and there is something very special about it—it's very historic and the whole meeting has a terrific atmosphere. My whole life has revolved around National Hunt racing so, not surprisingly, winning the Grand National would be very special.

"We've been lucky in most races, everything has fallen into line apart from in the Nationals. We managed the American one last year but that's a bit of a fudge over two miles and five furlongs. If you're going to win any I'd rather have Aintree." 

Henderson rates the 2019 Ultima Handicap Chase winner Beware The Bear and last year's J.P. McManus-owned Sky Bet Chase winner Ok Corral as his best chances of securing a long-awaited victory, with Pym, Valtor, and Gold Present also featuring among his list of entries.

Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Santini completes his hand but while Henderson rates him as an ideal Grand National horse for the future, he is not expected to take up his entry this year with the Gold Cup remaining his priority.

He said: "The two most likely to run are Beware The Bear and Ok Corral, who are the two that were due to run it in last year. They are being aimed primarily at Aintree.

"There is no doubt that one day this is where Santini will go, but the objective this year is Cheltenham and he wouldn't do both. He is there as an alternative in case anything goes wrong before then. It's a big possibility next year for him and I do think he'd be suited by the race."

Tiger Roll headlined the remaining entries as he bids to match Red Rum's record by claiming a historic third triumph in the Aintree marathon.

The 11-year-old, winner of the last two runnings in 2018 and 2019, is one of 16 entries for trainer Gordon Elliott along with grade 1 winners Delta Work and Presenting Percy.

Three-time Betfair Chase winner Bristol De Mai (for trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies) is entered as is impressive Coral Welsh Grand National winner Secret Reprieve (Evan Williams) and Ladbrokes Trophy winner Cloth Cap (Jonjo O'Neill).

O'Neill indicated that good ground will be key to Cloth Cap's challenge but is hopeful the 9-year-old, who runs in the colors of three-time Grand National-winning owner Trevor Hemmings, will be suited by the challenge of Aintree.

He said: "You never know (how they'll be suited) until you get there, but he jumped well at Newbury and kept galloping, so he's a nice candidate to have. We're looking forward to it, and hopefully the ground dries up because that is critical to him; he needs good ground.

"It was a nice race at Newbury. He was well-handicapped with a low weight, and you don't want to get carried away but he jumped well and stayed the trip well, so let's hope he can do the same at Aintree, although he might not get the ground he did there," O'Neill added, who also confirmed Cloth Cap would take in one prep race in the spring when the ground begins drying up.

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic meant the Grand National was not run for the first time since World War II, and it remains to be seen if crowds or owners will be able to return this year.

ITV held a virtual Grand National last year to fill the huge void left by the race's absence, which was won by Potters Corner (Christian Williams), with the 2019 Welsh Grand National winner once again entered in the real thing this time around.

Williams said: "The virtual race was great fun at the time, but we were looking forward to the real race last year and it's the same this time. We think the horse will be suited by the track, and he deserves his crack at it.

"We're trying to get him there in prime condition which meant missing the Welsh Grand National. That race was always his target last year, and Aintree is now his main target this year. He's getting a bit older, so we want to keep him as fresh as we can.

"We'll go to Cheltenham for the Cross Country Chase as his trial which we're excited for." 

The name of Henderson is a notable absentee from the list of Grand National-winning trainers and the Seven Barrows maestro holds the most entries of any British trainer with six, including Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Santini, who also has an entry in the Grand National Trial at Haydock Feb. 20.

Also entered are Lake View Lad (Richard Newland) and Vieux Lion Rouge (David Pipe) who were successful in the William Hill Many Clouds Chase and Becher Chase, respectively, at Aintree's last meeting Dec. 5.

Burrows Saint is one of six entries for Willie Mullins while 2019 runner-up Magic of Light (Jessica Harrington), Yala Enki (Paul Nicholls), Any Second Now (Ted Walsh), and Easysland (David Cottin) are some of the other big names to feature.

The Grand National is the most valuable jumps race in Europe, and this year holds a prize fund of £750,000, a decrease from the £1 million previously on offer.

Weights will be published Feb. 16 before two scratching deadlines March 2 and March 23 and the five-day confirmation stage following April 5.