Two pulled ups this season and a price of 50/1. On the face of it, High Class Hero looks like one of those names you skip past on the racecard without a second thought.
But there is one run buried in his form that changes the picture, and it is worth understanding before you dismiss him entirely.
High Class Hero is a nine-year-old who came up through the point-to-point ranks before joining Willie Mullins, where he quickly proved himself a capable performer over hurdles.
He won a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Punchestown at grade level before making the switch to fences, and it was over the larger obstacles that the real question emerged: could he reproduce his hurdle form?
The early signs over fences were mixed. He was short-priced in his novice chase campaign but never quite dominated in the way his odds suggested he should, often jumping left and giving himself things to do.
A second in a Grade 3 novice chase at Thurles and a beginners chase win at Punchestown in February 2025 kept him on course, but it was what came next that really caught the eye.
The Sandown Run That Makes Him Interesting
In late April 2025, Paul Townend, who could have ridden anything in the yard that day, chose High Class Hero for the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown – a field of 19, three and a half miles of good ground.
He finished third, beaten four and a half lengths in total, after travelling strongly for much of the race and hitting the second last fence when in a challenging position.
That mistake put him on the back foot at exactly the wrong moment. Even so, he finished in front of two Mullins stablemates, including Spanish Harlem and Grangeclare West, who goes to Aintree as one of the market leaders for the Grand National.
The significance of that form cannot be overstated. He was the pick of the stable’s first jockey, he stayed three and a half miles on good ground, and he was unlucky not to finish closer.
Had he jumped the second last cleanly, it is a race he could have won.
A Difficult Season Explained
Since that Sandown run, things have not gone so smoothly. He returned in November 2025 at Punchestown, led from the front and jumped left repeatedly before being headed approaching the last and finishing second.
It was a solid enough effort, but the jumping left was a persistent issue.
Then came two pulled ups, at Gowran Park in the Thyestes in January on heavy ground and at Naas in March on soft to heavy ground.
Both races came in conditions considerably more testing than he tends to produce his best form on, and neither run should be taken as representative.
The pattern, if you look across his whole record, is of a horse who performs better when the ground is not too deep.
Does High Class Hero Have A Chance?
At nine years old, he sits right in the heart of the age bracket that has produced most Grand National winners over the past three decades.
His weight of 10st 11lb is within a competitive range and gives him every chance of racing with some freedom through the field. He has no previous Grand National experience, but the majority of recent winners had none either.
The jumping issue is the most honest concern. He has a tendency to drift left through his fences, which on a different course might matter less, but Aintree’s unique obstacles demand precision and confidence.
Equally, the two pulled-ups this season leave questions about whether he arrives in the right shape.
What works in his favour is that the Grand National is generally run on ground that trends towards Good to Soft rather than the genuinely testing conditions that undid him in the Thyestes and at Naas.
Grand National 2026 Odds of 50/1: Is High Class Hero Worth a Bet?
The honest case rests almost entirely on that Sandown run and the quality of the horses he beat that day.
Grangeclare West finishing behind him, while both were giving weight away to the winner, is a piece of form that looks considerably stronger now than it did at the time.
Paul Townend chose him over everything else in a powerful yard on a day when the stable had multiple options. That is not a decision made lightly. This time around, he will be partnered with James Bowen.
At 50/1 he is a long way down the market, and the two recent PU’s (pulled up) make it hard to argue confidently that he turns up at Aintree in the form of his life.
But for punters looking for each-way value at a long price, there are worse starting points than a horse whose best form is better than his odds suggest and whose trainer knows exactly how to win the Grand National.
BETFRED
