In a year that saw far fewer entries than in previous years, 73 Grand National runners remain in contention for the big race on Saturday, April 15th 2023.

From 85 official entries, which ended up being just 77 by the time the weights were announced, four more potential runners have been withdrawn.

So who are they and are there any surprises?

2023 Grand National Withdrawals

The first scratching stage is generally uneventful. With a couple of weeks to make some decisions after the weights come out, some connections decide to take their chances elsewhere.

At this stage, the Cheltenham Festival is also on the horizon, and there are quite a few with entries to both meetings. How they fair at Prestbury Park can determine if they head to or swerve Aintree.

Minella Times getting taken out is no great surprise. While originally entered into the 2023 race, trained Henry De Bromhead announced that the winner had suffered a setback and retired the champion on the day the weights were announced.

Connections to Iwilldoit already knew that they hadn’t met the qualification criteria and we already knew that Fiddlerontheroof, Grumpy Charley and Riders Onthe Storm had been withdrawn.

So with all that going on, technically, only four more were withdrawn at the first scratching stage today.

For the first stage in 2023, 4 horses were withdrawn.

• Burrows Saint (22)
• Ash Tree Meadow (46)
• Frontal Assault (61)
• Sporting John (63)

That now means that Ain’t That A Shame moves up a space and is the last horse to make the cut at this stage.

Remaining Grand National 2023 Contenders

With 73 horses still left, the numbering has changed slightly so here are all the remaining contenders in their new numerical order:

• 1 Hewick – 11 12 – John Hanlon
• 2 Any Second Now – 11 12 – Ted Walsh
• 3 Conflated – 11 12 – Gordon Elliott
• 4 Noble Yeats – 11 11 – Emmet Mullins
• 5 Galvin – 11 11 – Gordon Elliott
• 6 Royale Pagaille – 11 08 – Venetia Williams
• 7 Envoi Allen – 11 08 – Henry de Bromhead
• 8 Fury Road – 11 06 – Gordon Elliott
• 9 The Big Dog – 11 05 – Peter Fahey
• 10 Capodanno – 11 05 – Willie Mullins

 

• 11 Delta Work – 11 04 – Gordon Elliott
• 12 Sam Brown – 11 04 – Anthony Honeyball
• 13 Lifetime Ambition – 11 03 – Jessica Harrington
• 14 Franco de Port – 11 03 – Willie Mullins
• 15 Carefully Selected – 11 01 – Willie Mullins
• 16 Coko Beach – 11 00 – Gordon Elliott
• 17 Chris’s Dream – 11 00 – Henry de Bromhead
• 18 Longhouse Poet – 11 00 – Martin Brassil
• 19 Gaillard du Mesnil – 11 00 – Willie Mullins
• 20 Darasso – 10 13 – Joseph O’Brien

 

• 21 Pencilfulloflead – 10 12 – Gordon Elliott
• 22 Happygolucky – 10 11 – Kim Bailey
• 23 Le Milos – 10 11 – Dan Skelton
• 24 The Shunter – 10 11 – Emmet Mullins
• 25 Quick Wave – 10 11 – Venetia Williams
• 26 Ga Law – 10 11 – Jamie Snowden
• 27 Escaria Ten – 10 10 – Gordon Elliott
• 28 The Big Breakaway – 10 10 – Joe Tizzard
• 29 Remastered – 10 10 – David Pipe
• 30 Farclas – 10 10 – Stud Gordon Elliott

 

• 31 Threeunderthrufive – 10 09 – Paul Nicholls
• 32 Cape Gentleman – 10 08 – John Hanlon
• 33 Cilaos Emery – 10 08 – Sophie Leech
• 34 Roi Mage – 10 08 – Patrick Griffin
• 35 Diol Ker – 10 08 – Noel Meade
• 36 A Wave of The Sea – 10 06 – Joseph O’Brien
• 37 Minella Trump – 10 06 – Donald McCain
• 38 Vanillier – 10 06 – Gavin Cromwell
• 39 Velvet Elvis – 10 06 – Tom Gibney
• 40 Ain’t That A Shame – 10 05 – Henry de Bromhead

 

• 41 Corach Rambler – 10 05 – Lucinda Russell
• 42 Lord Lariat – 10 05 – Dermot McLoughlin
• 43 Enjoy d’Allen – 10 05 – Ciaran Murphy
• 44 Mr Incredible – 10 04 – Willie Mullins
• 45 Cloudy Glen – 10 04 – Venetia Williams
• 46 Gin On Lime – 10 04 – Henry de Bromhead
• 47 Mister Coffey – 10 04 – Nicky Henderson
• 48 Battleoverdoyen – 10 04 – Gordon Elliott
• 49 Ashtown Lad – 10 03 – Dan Skelton
• 50 Hill Sixteen – 10 02 – Sandy Thomson

 

• 51 Gabbys Cross – 10 02 – Henry de Bromhead
• 52 Recite A Prayer – 10 01 – Willie Mullins
• 53 Rapper – 10 01 – Henry Daly
• 54 Eva’s Oskar – 10 01 – Tim Vaughan
• 55 Our Power – 10 00 – Sam Thomas
• 56 Death Duty – 10 00 – Gordon Elliott
• 57 Dunboyne – 10 00 – Gordon Elliott
• 58 Francky du Berlais – 10 00 – Peter Bowen
• 59 Fortescue – 9 13 – Henry Daly
• 60 Back On The Lash – 9 13 – Martin Keighley

 

• 61 Defi Bleu – 9 12 – Gordon Elliott
• 62 Milan Native – 9 10 – Gordon Elliott
• 63 Punitive – 9 10 – Gordon Elliott
• 64 Gevrey – 9 10 – Gordon Elliott
• 65 Born By The Sea – 9 10 – Paul Gilligan
• 66 Fakiera – 9 08 – Gordon Elliott
• 67 Mortal – 9 08 – Gordon Elliott
• 68 Captain Kangaroo – 9 08 – Willie Mullins
• 69 Darrens Hope – 9 08 – Robert Murphy
• 70 Captain Cattistock – 9 05 – Fergal O’Brien

 

• 71 Secret Reprieve – 9 05 – Evan Williams
• 72 Fantastikas – 9 05 – Nigel Twiston-Davies
• 73 Glamorgan Duke – 9 01 – Paul Gilligan

Movement On The Betting Markets

As you can imagine a lot has happened in the two weeks since the weights for the 2023 Grand National were revealed.

Once the BHA Handicapper has set the weights in stone, connections are then free to race their horses wherever they like without fear that a great run will impact their rating.

That said, as the date for entries this year was a week later than normal, it meant the weights were announced later than normal, and everything was one week closer to Cheltenham.

And that usually means that entries are holding off until they head to Prestbury Park on March 14th. Even the likes of the Grimthorpe Chase were affected, with Sporting John the only National entry. And even then, he was withdrawn today!

Noble Yeats still leads the betting markets on around 8/1 despite being handed near top weight. Gaillard Du Mesnil has moved into the second spot on ante-post odds of 12/1 (with Paddy Power).

One of the biggest movers has been Mr Incredible, going from 25/1 to just 14/1. Despite still sitting outside of the top 40 (number 44), Mr Incredible seems to be catching the bookies attention.

Maybe they’re hoping Willie Mullins can wave a magic wand by the time the 2023 Grand National rolls around!

But as expected, with so few horses withdrawn at the first scratching stage, very little has actually happened on the betting markets.

That and the Grand National tends to get a little bit ignored before the Cheltenham Festival.