The National Hunt season is accelerating as winter approaches, with the Punchestown meetings over the weekend offering significant clues for the months ahead.
Established stars and fresh hopefuls were out in force in Ireland, highlighting a calendar now heavy with championship trials and handicaps, all building towards the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree Grand National in spring.
The first shake-up in Grand National betting often comes after these big meetings, as horses’ credentials are given the ultimate test in conditions similar to those at Aintree.
This year, Haiti Couleurs and Nick Rockett find themselves at the forefront of discussions after impressive performances on the back of last season’s high-class campaign.
Haiti Couleurs
Trained by Rebecca Curtis, Haiti Couleurs has steadily progressed through the ranks and delivers the profile of a modern National contender: robust, reliable, and with ample stamina.
The eight-year-old’s 2024/25 season has been littered with class, producing three notable staying chase victories, including a dominant show in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
His follow-up Irish Grand National triumph at Fairyhouse in Easter cemented his credentials for marathon events.
In that race, he displayed a strong galloping style and the ability to grind through tough conditions, and given that both races were over 3m5f and less than six weeks apart, his stamina is unquestionable. With the latest horse racing odds Bovada and other leading bookmakers are offering, it’s clear Haiti Couleurs has piqued the interest of punters on both sides of the Irish Sea.
He returned this season with another win in the Pertemps Network handicap Hurdle at Newbury, carrying a hefty 12 stone, but failed to deliver on his last outing at Haydock when he pulled up having never really got going, the race instead going the way of Grey Dawning from Paul Nicholls.
That said, he has a chance to redeem himself very soon and could have his next outing in the Welsh Grand National in December.
If all goes to plan, a tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March remains a possibility, which would further solidify his reputation and race fitness for April’s unique test.
Across six starts last season, he never finished outside the top three and showcased both tactical versatility and stamina over extended three-mile-plus trips.
Rebecca Curtis
Rebecca Curtis is no stranger to National Hunt success, having trained multiple graded winners and festival contenders.
Known for her adept handling of staying chasers, Curtis’s string is built around patient progression and peaking horses for spring festivals.
Her victory with Haiti Couleurs in the Irish Grand National confirmed her status among the top British-based trainers capable of mixing it with Ireland’s leading operations, and her record at Cheltenham, Aintree, and Punchestown adds further weight to her credentials.
Curtis’s past Grand National runners have generally performed well, and her ability to keep a horse right for a long and demanding campaign is regarded as a hallmark of her training regime.
This season, she plots a careful path towards Aintree for Haiti Couleurs, aiming for optimal fitness and confidence by April.
Irish Grand National Winners at Aintree
Winning at Fairyhouse is a historic marker, but the double at Aintree is rare. While several Irish Grand National heroes have gone on to major festival success, only a handful have managed to capture both titles.
Notable among those are Rhyme ‘N’ Reason, Bobbyjo, and, most recently, I Am Maximus, who became the 2024 Aintree Grand National winner after lifting the Fairyhouse prize the previous season.
This underscores both the challenge and prestige of completing the double, with the switch from Fairyhouse’s tight turns to Aintree’s giant fences demanding a combination of resilience and class.
Can Haiti Couleurs add his name to that impressive list? There’s every chance he could, but how the rest of the season plays out will tell us a lot.
The Challenge of Back-to-Back Wins
As mentioned above, Haiti Couleurs is the current antepost joint-favourite, and he shares that honour with Nick Rockett, trained by Willie Mullins.
He captured the 2025 Grand National at odds of 33/1, joining elite company as a National winner; however, history underlines the immense difficulty of consecutive Grand National victories, with only a small band of legends having defended their crowns at Aintree.
I Am Maximus came close in 2025, but ultimately had to settle for second place. He returned to Punchestown in the John Durkan, but it looked more like an opportunity to shake the cobwebs off rather than to go all out for the win.
He should have been up against stablemate Nick Rockett, but he was withdrawn on the day due to the temperature.
So, having not been seen since his fateful Grand National win, there’s no real way to tell if he has what it takes to go the distance again in 2026.
The weight of expectation, the unique demands of Aintree, and an ever-changing field mean the challenge is steep, keeping the betting market wide open through the winter months.
2026 Grand National: Leading Ante Post Odds
Here is how the leading horses currently stand in ante-post betting for the Grand National 2026:
| Horse | Odds |
|---|---|
| Nick Rockett | 16/1 |
| Haiti Couleurs | 16/1 |
| Iroko | 20/1 |
| I Am Maximus | 20/1 |
| Grangeclare West | 25/1 |
| Jagwar | 25/1 |
| Quai De Bourbon | 25/1 |
| Now Is The Hour | 33/1 |
| Better Days Ahead | 33/1 |
| Lecky Watson | 33/1 |
A Well-Earned Market Position
Haiti Couleurs’s status as joint ante-post favourite is well-earned. With a proven staying profile, festival-winning form, and one of Britain’s sharpest staying chase trainers behind him, he has all the essential tools for a major run in the 2026 Grand National.
History warns that the Fairyhouse–Aintree double is formidable, but Curtis’s charge has every chance of being the type of “dark horse” that shapes National Hunt headlines this season.
As the official entries are awaited in February, all eyes will be on Haiti Couleurs’s next moves, starting, perhaps, in Chepstow for the Welsh Grand National with a possible tilt at the Gold Cup.
While Nick Rockett bids for a rare repeat, the ante-post market continues to shift ahead of Aintree’s April drama.
