Much of the talk in the lead-up to Aintree has been about the horses that won’t be making their way to the Grand National festival.

However we think this is a disservice to the challengers that are going to compete at the Liverpool racecourse, so we’ve decided to run through the Cheltenham performers who will take their place at the starting line on April 8th.

One such horse is Gordon Elliott’s impressive Cause of Causes.

The nine-year-old is set to test itself at the Aintree spectacle after a fantastic win in the Cheltenham’s Glenfarclas Chase. Gordon Elliott’s yard is on fire this season and punters are banking on the trainer saddling up the winner in this year’s Grand National.

For good reason too, as Cause of Causes defeated some top horses on its way to victory at Cheltenham. These including the likes of Cantlow and Bless The Wings.

It also didn’t just win the race, it won it with class, by defeating stablemate Bless The Wings by nine lengths. In fact, many observers believe Cause of Causes had much more in the tank when it crossed the finishing line.

If Cause of Causes does win it won’t be Elliott’s first success in the race. He won the National with Silver Birch ten years ago in 2007 and he will be hoping that years ending with ‘7’ are lucky as we edge closer the race.

Elliott’s horse isn’t the only Cheltenham performer whose chances are fancied at Aintree. Wonderful Charm ran a great race to come second in the Foxhunters’ Chase and Paul Nicholls will be hoping he can follow that up with a Grand National win.

Another Nicholls ride that did well at Cheltenham is Saphir Du Rheu. Despite not getting into the placings in the Gold Cup, Saphir Du Rheu was only beaten by six lengths and will have the ever-brilliant Sam Twiston-Davies onboard for the big race.