Willie Mullins to field nine runners in Aintree Grand National

The Aintree Festival kicks off on Thursday with the maximum 34 runners for Saturday’s Grand National already established and Irish-trained horses making up 68 per cent of the field.

The 2024 winner – and last year’s runner-up – I Am Maximus tops both the betting lists and a nine-strong Willie Mullins team after the first ever 72-hour declarations for the world’s most famous steeplechase.

Last year’s winner Nick Rockett is back for another crack at the race too, although the potential remains for Mullins to emulate the legendary Vincent O’Brien, who saddled three different winners in three successive years between 1953 and 1955.

Gordon Elliott has a handful of hopefuls as, like Mullins, he tries to win the National for a record-equalling fourth time. Elliott could have another shot as he also has the first reserve in Pied Piper. Should any of the 34 have to be taken out before 1pm on Friday, a reserve can get in.

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Unlike the last two years, Mullins appears to have conceded he can’t catch Dan Skelton in the race for the British trainers’ title, so there aren’t the massed ranks of Closutton stars elsewhere in Liverpool this time.

Last year the Irishman pulled off a 102-1 sweep of all four Grade One prizes on day one, establishing a remorseless momentum that swept on to the National when saddling five of the first seven home.

On Thursday, Mullins has just three starters, with Selma De Vary in the opening Boodles Juvenile Hurdle perhaps his best shot. Otherwise, much of his focus already appears to be on the climax to the Irish season at Punchestown later this month.

Apart from that, the run-up to the sport’s greatest shop window revolves around familiar themes, such as the longer than usual four-week gap since Cheltenham, ground that continues to need watering, and annual tensions between invaluable public exposure and a resultant welfare spotlight.

The RSPCA in Britain described four equine deaths at Cheltenham as “clearly at odds with the UK’s status as a nation of animal lovers”. The British Horseracing Authority’s “surprise” at the statement was probably uttered through gritted teeth, given how the Grand National is only a shadow of the challenge it once was, part of a series of measures to reassure public confidence in the event.

One horse, Willy D’Houelle, sustained fatal injuries in a hurdle contest on day one of Aintree last year. Celebre D’allen was pulled up in the National and died three days later due to complications from a respiratory infection, becoming the first National-related death since 2023 when Hill Sixteen fell at the first.

Less grim considerations will surround the going on Thursday with connections of the top Irish mare Brighterdaysahead hoping for any ease possible when she lines up against The New Lion in the William Hill Aintree Hurdle.

Spillane’s Tower missed out on appearing at the meeting last year – and in last month’s Gold Cup – when taken out due to ground judged too quick by connections. He’s one of five left in the Racing Welfare Bowl but has also been left in the National.