Ireland's Call!

When looking for a modern Grand National winner, the most obvious place to start is Ireland!

Six of the last seven winners have been trained in the Emerald Isle, reflecting a wider pattern of dominance when it comes to major jump races in the UK.

A compelling example of Irish dominance would be the Prestbury Cup - a competition between UK and Ireland based trainers during the Cheltenham Festival. 

The Irish have won this competition 9/10 times since 2015, with the other edition ending in a tie. The 2025 festival produced another one-sided result, with Irish trained horses winning 20/28 races.

When it comes to the Grand National, we’re dealing with a sample of just one race course, but Irish trained horses have been far more likely to pay punters a return in the big race. 

In what may arguably be the most telling stat of all you may read in this blog, 20/21 horses finishing among the first three home over the last seven renewals of the National were trained in Ireland. The one notable exception to that rule being 2023 winner Corach Rambler.

Whilst we can't consider any trend in this blog as a 100% racing certainty, it certainly presents a compelling case to back Irish trained horses.