As we gear up for the 174th renewal of the great race, which will be held at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday, April 9th 2022, it all starts with the entries. For 2022 that number is 107 and unsurprisingly, Tiger Roll is included on that list.
Trained by Gordon Elliott, Tiger Roll has been joined by 18 of his stablemates as Elliott enters 19 in total. That is the highest number by any trainer in 2022.
Of the 107 entries, 53 are trained in Ireland with last year’s winner, Minella Times, heading the list of entries.
Since their historic win, both Minella Times and jockey Rachael Blackmore have been touted as the ones to watch again in 2022. With low ante-post odds in the betting market, they are bested only by Galvin who is on such fantastic form it’s easy to see why he is currently the bookies favourite.
Last year’s 3rd, 4th and 5th place finishers are all back hoping to improve and actually win the race.
Any Second Now from Ted Walsh, Burrows Saint from Willie Mullins and Farclas from Gordon Elliott all look set to take another shot at those tricky fences in April.
Gordon Elliott Entries
One of Ireland’s most successful trainers, Gordon Elliott consistently enters a huge number of potential runners into the Grand National. Last season it was 16 runners, this year it is 19.
Not only does he have Galvin in the mix, but he also has serious contenders in Mount Ida and Run Wild Fred, both of whom have significant wins under their belt. Run Wild Fred was also second in the Irish Grand National in 2021.
Jonjo O’Neill 2022 Grand National Entries
Winner of the Grand National in 2010 with Don’t Push It, it was the race that finally gave legendary jockey AP McCoy his elusive National win.
Since then, he has had a few decent contenders but hasn’t managed another victory. Will 2022 end that drought?
This time around he has entered Cloth Cap, Time To Get Up and Easysland. Cloth Cap went off as favourite in 2021 but pulled-up three fences out. Time To Get Up won the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter last March.
And in a real twist, owner JP McManus has moved Easysland from David Cottin in France to O’Neill’s yard. A cross country specialist, Easysland did get an entry last year but was withdrawn in favour of going to Cheltenham. Once again he has race options at both so where will he go?
Other Notable Entries
Chantry House from Nicky Henderson is the highest-rated British entry this year, alongside Easysland, both of whom are on an OR of 160. Chantry House definitely has other options with an entry in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham on the cards.
Delta Work from Gordon Elliott, Melon and Franco De Port from Willie Mullins and Eklat De Rire from Henry De Bromhead are among the highest rated from Ireland.
Of course the BHA Handicapper doesn’t have to follow the Irish ratings and has the freedom to rate these horses independently when it comes to the allocation of weights.
2021 Welsh Grand National winner Iwilldoit didn’t get an entry but the second place finisher, Highland Hunter did get the green light for Aintree.
Tiger Roll Grand National 2022
Having won the race in both 2018 and 2019, in 2021 he was aiming to be only the second triple Grand National winner after the great Red Rum (successful in 1973, 1974 and 1977).
However, his owner, Michael O’Leary of Giggsinstown Stud believed he had been unfairly handicapped and he was withdrawn. Instead, connections opted to send him to Cheltenham for the Glenfarclas Chase which he won again.
Then, in a surprise twist, he headed back to Aintree but took his chances in the Betway Bowl Chase. He couldn’t maintain his winning ways and had to settle for fourth place.
He has a better chance of running in the 2022 Grand National. Two poor performances recently have resulted in a drop in his Official Rating, which now stands at 155 in Ireland.
For comparison reasons, last season at the time of the Aintree Festival he was rated at 167 in the UK which elicited a weight of 11-09. An OR of 155 would give him around 10-12 to carry in the National.
Prominent Owners
Three of the biggest owners in National Hunt Racing, in terms of numbers are JP McManus, Gigginstown and the late Trevor Hemmings. This year McManus has 12 entries with 11 different trainers.
They include Easysland with Jonjo O’Neill, Minella Times with Henry De Bromhead, Chantry House with Nicky Henderson, Any Second Now with Ted Walsh, School Boy Hours with Noel Meade and Kapcorse with Paul Nicholls.
Gigginstown has 14 entries with 12 of them trained by Gordon Elliott. The other two are Assemble with Joseph O’Brien and Eurobot with Noel Meade.
The estate of the late Trevor Hemmings has three potential runners with Cloth Cap (Jonjo O’Neill), Deise Aba (Philip Hobbs) and Cloudy Glen (Venetia Williams). With three Grand National wins under his belt, Trevor Hemmings was hoping to add a fourth in 2021 but it was not to be.
All 2022 Grand National Entries
- Achille (FR) 12 Venetia Williams
- Agusta Gold (IRE) 9 Willie Mullins Ireland
- Alpha des Obeaux (FR) 12 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Anibale Fly (FR) 12 Tony Martin Ireland
- Any Second Now (IRE) 10 Ted Walsh Ireland
- Assemble 8 Joseph O’Brien Ireland
- Back On The Lash 8 Martin Keighley
- Battleoverdoyen (IRE) 9 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Blaklion 13 Dan Skelton
- Brace Yourself (IRE) 9 Noel Meade Ireland
- Braeside (IRE) 8 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Brahma Bull (IRE) 11 Willie Mullins Ireland
- Burrows Saint (FR) 9 Willie Mullins Ireland
- Caribean Boy (FR) 8 Nicky Henderson
- Chantry House (IRE) 8 Nicky Henderson
- Chatham Street Lad (IRE) 10 Michael Winters Ireland
- Chris’s Dream (IRE) 10 Henry de Bromhead Ireland
- Class Conti (FR) 10 Willie Mullins Ireland
- Cloth Cap (IRE) 10 Jonjo O’Neill
- Cloudy Glen (IRE) 9 Venetia Williams
- Coko Beach (FR) 7 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Commodore (FR) 10 Venetia Williams
- Conflated (IRE) 8 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Court Maid (IRE) 9 Thomas Mullins Ireland
- Death Duty (IRE) 11 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Defi Bleu (FR) 9 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Definite Plan (IRE) 10 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Deise Aba (IRE) 9 Philip Hobbs
- Delta Work (FR) 9 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- De Rasher Counter 10 Emma Lavelle
- Didero Vallis (FR) 9 Venetia Williams
- Dingo Dollar (IRE) 10 Sandy Thomson
- Discorama (FR) 9 Paul Nolan Ireland
- Discordantly (IRE) 8 Jessica Harrington Ireland
- Domaine de L’Isle (FR) 9 Sean Curran
- Double Shuffle (IRE) 12 Tom George
- Easysland (FR) 8 Jonjo O’Neill
- Eclair Surf (FR) 8 Emma Lavelle
- Eklat de Rire (FR) 8 Henry de Bromhead Ireland
- Elegant Escape (IRE) 10 Colin Tizzard
- El Presente 9 Kim Bailey
- Enjoy d’Allen (FR) 8 Ciaran Murphy Ireland
- Escaria Ten (FR) 8 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Eurobot 8 Noel Meade Ireland
- Farclas (FR) 8 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Fiddlerontheroof (IRE) 8 Colin Tizzard
- Fortescue 8 Henry Daly
- Franco de Port (FR) 7 Willie Mullins Ireland
- Freewheelin Dylan (IRE) 10 Anthony McLoughlin Ireland
- Full Back (FR) 7 Gary Moore
- Galvin (IRE) 8 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Go Another One (IRE) 10 John McConnell Ireland
- Good Boy Bobby (IRE) 9 Nigel Twiston-Davies
- Gwencily Berbas (FR) 11 David Pipe
- Highland Hunter (IRE) 9 Paul Nicholls
- Hill Sixteen 9 Sandy Thomson
- Itchy Feet (FR) 8 Olly Murphy
- Jerrysback (IRE) 10 Philip Hobbs
- Jett (IRE) 11 Olly Murphy
- Kalooki (GER) 8 Philip Hobbs
- Kapcorse (FR) 9 Paul Nicholls
- Kauto Riko (FR) 11 Tom Gretton
- Kildisart (IRE) 10 Ben Pauling
- Larry 9 Gary Moore
- Longhouse Poet (IRE) 8 Martin Brassil Ireland
- Lord du Mesnil (FR) 9 Richard Hobson
- Lostintranslation (IRE) 10 Colin Tizzard
- Mac Tottie 9 Peter Bowen
- Melon 10 Willie Mullins Ireland
- Mighty Thunder 9 Lucinda Russell
- Milan Native (IRE) 9 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Minella Times (IRE) 9 Henry de Bromhead Ireland
- Mister Fogpatches (IRE) 8 Pat Fahy Ireland
- Mister Whitaker (IRE) 10 Donald McCain
- Mortal (IRE) 10 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Mount Ida (IRE) 8 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Noble Yeats (IRE) 7 Emmet Mullins Ireland
- Off You Go (IRE) 9 Charles Byrnes Ireland
- Ontheropes (IRE) 8 Willie Mullins Ireland
- Phoenix Way (IRE) 9 Harry Fry
- Pink Eyed Pedro 11 David Brace
- Plan of Attack (IRE) 9 Henry de Bromhead Ireland
- Poker Party (FR) 10 Henry de Bromhead Ireland
- Potters Corner (IRE) 12 Christian Williams
- Robin des Foret (IRE) 12 John McConnell Ireland
- Roi Mage (FR) 10 Patrick Griffin Ireland
- Romain de Senam (FR) 10 David Pipe
- Run Wild Fred (IRE) 8 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Sam Brown 10 Anthony Honeyball
- Samcro (IRE) 10 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Santini 10 Polly Gundry
- School Boy Hours (IRE) 9 Noel Meade Ireland
- Scoir Mear (IRE) 12 Thomas Mullins Ireland
- Secret Reprieve (IRE) 8 Evan Williams
- Smoking Gun (IRE) 9 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Snow Leopardess 10 Charlie Longsdon
- Stones And Roses (IRE) 8 Willie Mullins Ireland
- The Big Dog (IRE) 9 Damien Peter Fahey Ireland
- The Hollow Ginge (IRE) 9 Nigel Twiston-Davies
- The Two Amigos 10 Nicky Martin
- Tiger Roll (IRE) 12 Gordon Elliott Ireland
- Time To Get Up (IRE) 9 Jonjo O’Neill
- Top Ville Ben (IRE) 10 Philip Kirby
- Two For Gold (IRE) 9 Kim Bailey
- Uisce Beatha (IRE) 9 Sophie Leech
- Via Dolorosa (FR) 10 David Pipe
- Windsor Avenue (IRE) 10 Brian Ellison
How The Entries Get Whittled Down
As we move through the next few weeks and months, those 107 entries will eventually get reduced down to the 40 that will start the race on Saturday April 9th 2022.
In order to qualify for the race, prior to March 22nd a horse must have started in a steeplechase during the current season, and have been placed first, second, third or fourth in a steeplechase with an official distance description of ‘two miles seven and a half furlongs’ or more, at any time during the horse’s career.
Horses must be also allotted a rating of 125 or more by the BHA Handicapper following a review of the horses entered and after taking account of races run up to and including February 13th.
To qualify, horses must have run at least three times in Steeple Chases run under the Rules of Racing of the same Recognised Racing Authority up to and including February 13th.
At the Handicapper’s discretion, such horses may be allotted a rating.
Entries closed on the 1st February (107 entries) and the weights will be revealed on 15th February 2021.
The first scratchings deadline is the 1st of March. The second scratchings deadline is the 22nd of March. Five-day confirmation stage is on the 4th of April with the final declaration stage on the 7th of April.
2022 Grand National runners can only be ridden by Jockeys or Amateur Riders who, before 7th April, 2022, have ridden not less than 15 winners in steeple chases or hurdle races under the Rules of Racing and/or the Rules of the Irish National Hunt Steeple Chase Committee and ridden not less than 10 of these winners in steeplechases.
For all the odds, check out our odds page and don’t forget that there will be a lot of betting offers on the run up to the race so we will also keep you up to date with them.
We will also be spending a lot of time on producing some great tips, so don’t forget to check them out closer to the race.
