Antepost Betting Tips: Grand National

Stephen Welch / 5:29 PM GMT • 27th November, 2025

7 minutes

As the long road to April begins to take shape, here at Winning Post we’ve picked out five horses who look set to play a prominent role in the early conversation for next year’s Grand National.

The new National Hunt season is now up and running and over the next few weeks many of the leading 2026 Grand National hopefuls will begin to emerge from their summer breaks. A host of major staying chases across Britain and Ireland are about to provide the first meaningful clues of the campaign, with several key Aintree contenders expected to have their initial outings of the season. As the long road to April begins to take shape, here at Winning Post we’ve picked out five horses who look set to play a prominent role in the early conversation for next year’s Grand National.

Beauport (66/1)

Beauport is the sort of horse people overlook far too easily when discussing next year’s Grand National, but his run in the 2025 renewal told us far more than the bare result. He was prominent for a long way, jumped the fences like he’d schooled over them all his life and was still right there after the second Valentine’s before fading into 12th. Very few horses get into that position on their first try at Aintree and even fewer complete the race with as much credit as he did.

His most recent effort in a 3m3½f Handicap Chase at Cheltenham only strengthened the case. He travelled, jumped and actually led turning in before a late mistake knocked the wind out of him. That run confirmed he’s still a proper staying handicapper and with the Twiston-Davies yard traditionally bringing these types forward through the winter, you’d expect he’ll only tighten up from that reappearance.

Beauport already has a Midlands National on his CV, he has completed a Grand National after travelling in the first wave of runners and he has just shown he retains all his staying power at Cheltenham. If he returns to Aintree in similar form and gets into a rhythm early, he’s the sort of battle-hardened stayer who can run a massive race at a big price. He’s far more interesting for 2026 than the market currently gives him credit for.

Perceval Legallois (40/1)

Perceval Legallois was my selection for the 2025 Grand National and while his early fall at Valentine’s ensured we never got to see how deep he could go in the closing stages, nothing about that spill has dampened my enthusiasm for him twelve months on. Gordon Elliott trained him methodically for Aintree last season and the path he took to Liverpool, highlighted by a dominant success in one of the deepest handicap chases of the winter, the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown, still reads like the ideal preparation for a horse with National ambitions.

That Christmas victory remains a serious piece of form. He powered clear of Midnight Our Fred by seven lengths, travelling like a horse well ahead of his mark. The handicapper certainly noticed, raising him 11lbs, but the manner of that win suggested there may still be improvement to come, especially with age and distance on his side. At eight, he sits right in the sweet spot for a modern National contender, seasoned enough to cope with the demands, yet still open to further progress.

A strongly-run National should bring out the best in him. He’s a relentless galloper who jumps with fluency when in his rhythm and if he gets into a position to use that long stride down the back straight, the race could unfold right into his strengths. Stable form is a slight niggle, but assuming Elliott has him in better shape this time around and learns from how last year unravelled, 40/1 looks a big price for a horse who was shaping like a serious National contender. Perceval Legallois still has the profile, engine and stamina to make a major impression at Aintree. One fall doesn’t change that; if anything, it might mean we’re getting a touch of value this time around.

Nick Rockett (25/1)

Plenty will try to reinvent the wheel with the 2026 Grand National, but the most obvious answer might still be the right one. Nick Rockett was superb in the 2025 running, completing a rare prep double by winning the Thyestes followed by the Bobbyjo Chase before going to Aintree and producing a performance of genuine authority. He travelled sweetly, jumped cleanly and had the race won a fair way from home, which is not something you can say about many National winners.

The narrative with repeat bids is usually about weight, but I’m not sure it’s the issue people make it out to be. This horse has already shown he has the class to defy big weight hikes in Ireland and the way he finished off the race in 2025 suggested he had more in hand than the margin implied. He’s uncomplicated, he handles the fences and he thrives in big-field staying handicaps. Those are the traits that make back-to-back National attempts feasible and Nick Rockett ticks every one of them.

If Willie Mullins campaigns him with the same patience and there’s every indication he will, Nick Rockett is the defending champion with the fewest question marks. He already knows how to win this, he’s unexposed at extreme trips and he arrives as one of the most reliable stayers in the line-up. If he lines up in anything like the form he showed last spring, he’s a very serious contender to go close again.

Haiti Couleurs (20/1)

Haiti Couleurs hardly covered himself in glory in the Betfair Chase, pulling up before the business end having never travelled with any fluency. It was a flat effort on ground that should have suited and on the face of it, it was the sort of run that can cool enthusiasm for any long-term National hope. But context matters; this was his first real test of the campaign, he was entitled to need it and connections clearly have far bigger spring targets in mind than a November slog around Haydock. One poor run doesn’t undo a season’s worth of high-class staying form.

If anything, his wider profile remains one of the most compelling in the ante-post market. Few horses advertised their stamina credentials more convincingly last season than Haiti Couleurs, whose National Hunt Chase win at Cheltenham was followed by a superb performance in the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse, a demanding double that only a relentless stayer with proper grit can manage. The manner in which he kept finding over 3m5f on two very different tracks marked him out as a proper marathon horse.

His return at Newbury earlier this season, when winning a Pertemps qualifier, confirmed that ability hasn’t gone away. His Betfair Chase disappointment looks far more like a bump in the road than a regression and a likely run in the Welsh Grand National could put him right back on track. Given how consistently he held his form last term and how well he copes with big-field, stamina-heavy contests, it would be no surprise if the Aintree fences bring out the very best in him.

The Fairyhouse-Aintree double is famously difficult, but Haiti Couleurs has the raw material to at least attempt it; resilience, class and the temperament to handle the intensity of a National build-up. With Rebecca Curtis plotting a familiar patient route through the winter, 20/1 feels more than fair for a horse whose long-distance profile is arguably the most solid in the field. If he leaves the Betfair run behind him, as I expect he will, he remains one of the standout candidates for April’s big one.

Spanish Harlem (40/1)

Spanish Harlem is one I’d be keeping firmly onside for the 2026 Grand National. His win in the 2025 Kerry National is one of the standout staying performances of the autumn so far, travelling strongly in a deep-field handicap and finding plenty late on soft ground. That’s a race that exposes weak stayers brutally, yet he was the one horse who kept going when the others had cried enough. It was the sort of performance you’d expect from a horse who’ll relish 4m2f rather than fear it.

The key thing with Spanish Harlem is that he already has a proper staying foundation without being over-raced. He’s physically the right type, a big, scopey chaser who jumps economically and holds his position and he’s coming into the ideal age window for a National campaign. We haven’t seen him since Listowel, but that isn’t unusual for Irish stayers at this stage of the year and nothing about that Kerry National win suggested he was anywhere near the ceiling of his ability.

If you’re looking for a horse who could take a big leap forward once stepped up to marathon distances, Spanish Harlem makes a huge amount of sense. He’s already shown he can outstay seasoned handicappers over nearly three miles on soft ground and his running style looks tailor-made for Aintree. At the current prices, he’s far too interesting to ignore.