The name alone is enough to make people look twice at the racecard. Gorgeous Tom. It has a ring to it that cuts through the noise of a 34-horse field, and at 20/1 it comes with a price that rewards closer inspection.
Henry de Bromhead sends him to Aintree as a first-time Grand National runner, and if the County Waterford trainer’s record tells you anything, it is that he rarely arrives at the big occasion without a reason for being there.
De Bromhead is one of the most decorated jumping trainers in the world. He has saddled the winner of every championship race at the Cheltenham Festival, a feat that only a handful of trainers in history can claim.
He won the Grand National itself in 2021 with Minella Times, ridden by Rachael Blackmore in one of the most celebrated moments the race has ever produced.
He also has Monty’s Star and Amirite lining up today!
Gorgeous Tom’s Form: From Novice to National Contender
Gorgeous Tom is an eight-year-old who has been on an upward curve since he first went over fences. His early career in hurdles was modest but showed enough to suggest he had jumping in his blood.
He won a maiden hurdle at Naas, then made a smooth transition to fences, winning a beginners chase at Wexford on his debut and following it up with a Grade 3 novice chase win at Cork.
His novice campaign took him to the top level. He ran fourth in the Grade 1 novice chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2025 and again fourth in a Grade 1 at Punchestown the following month.
Both runs told a similar story: talented, competitive against the best, but not quite finding the gear to beat them. What they also confirmed was that he handles good ground, stays three miles, and jumps cleanly at pace.
The plan sharpened when he went to the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in November. In a field of 24 over three miles two furlongs, he finished fourth at 16/1, posting a Racing Post Rating of 153 that represented easily the best figure of his career.
Henry de Bromhead Confirms the Grand National Plan
When the weights came out in February, de Bromhead was clear about the direction of travel.
Assigned 10st 9lb, he said: “That seems fair. It pretty much gets him in and it seems a fair mark for him. He ran well in the Coral Gold Cup when fourth and we said he’d head for the National after that.”
His most recent outing came at Leopardstown in early March, where he finished fifth of 16 in a Listed handicap over two and a half miles, sent off joint favourite at 5/1.
It was not his best day, but the race was run at a clip that may not have suited him.
Does Gorgeous Tom Have A Chance?
He arrives at the race with some things working clearly in his favour and a couple of genuine question marks.
The weight of 10st 9lb sits just below the range that has produced the most recent winners, but in a race where top-weighted horses routinely struggle, travelling light is rarely a disadvantage.
The less comfortable part of the picture is his age. At eight, he sits just below the nine-to-ten bracket that has produced the majority of winners over the past three decades, though it is not a bar to success.
Equally, he has no previous Grand National experience, so Aintree’s unique demands, the size of the fences, the width of the course, and the sheer theatre of it, will all be new to him.
Only a handful of recent winners had run in the National before, so a first-time runner is not automatically at a disadvantage, but there is always an element of the unknown.
Grand National 2026 Odds of 20/1: Is Gorgeous Tom Worth a Bet?
The honest case for him is this: he is trained by a man who has won this race, he is on a competitive mark, and his Coral Gold Cup run last November showed he has the ability to mix it in quality handicap company over staying distances.
The case against him is that the fences at Aintree are a different test to anything he has encountered, and he is a horse who tends to peak when conditions go his way.
At 20/1 he sits in a price range that historically produces more than its fair share of Grand National winners.
He is a horse who has earned his place in the race and arrives with a clear plan behind him. Whether Aintree answers the questions his form has posed remains to be seen.
But, if you’re like me and your grandad was named Tom, none of that will matter. He could be a three legged donkey, and I’ll still stick a few quid each-way on him!
BETFRED
