Johnnywho has picked the perfect moment to step out of the shadows. Fresh from a battling success in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, the nine‑year‑old now heads to Aintree as one of the more widely fancied candidates for the Grand National.
What makes him so interesting is not just that he won one of the key modern trials for the race, but that within minutes his odds for the National plummeted and he now finds himself near the top of the betting markets.
The Ultima: The Day Everything Clicked
If 2025 was the year he hinted at bigger things, 2026 was when Johnnywho delivered on the big stage.
Lining up in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, he was sent off at 18‑1, very much the “other” JP McManus runner behind better‑fancied Jagwar.
Ridden with patience by Richie McLernon, Johnnywho crept into the race from off the pace, jumped accurately when pressure mounted and then outstayed Jagwar in a pulsating finish, giving McManus a 1‑2 in his famous green and gold silks.
It was the first Cheltenham Festival winner sent out by the new joint‑training partnership of Jonjo and AJ O’Neill and felt, in every sense, like a coming‑of‑age run.
The Ultima has become a serious pointer to the Grand National in recent years, most notably when Corach Rambler completed the Cheltenham–Aintree double in 2023.
The reaction from the market was swift: his National odds were chopped, with several form judges highlighting his strong finish, sound jumping, and the fact that he would go to Aintree “well‑in” at the weights.
And he is. Set to carry only 10-04 in the big race, this is a huge advantage where weight can make or break a runner’s chances.
The Jonjo & AJ O’Neill Factor
If Johnnywho is a slow‑burner on the track, his trainers are playing a similarly patient game.
The partnership of Jonjo and AJ O’Neill is relatively new in official terms, but in reality, it is the natural evolution of a long‑running family operation.
Jonjo Senior, a former champion jockey, has already trained a National hero in Don’t Push It, who finally gave AP McCoy his Aintree fairy tale in 2010.
AJ, meanwhile, has brought fresh impetus and a modern eye to the set-up, while still drawing heavily on the yard’s old‑school horsemanship.
Their early Festival success with Johnnywho in the Ultima felt symbolic: the first Cheltenham winner officially credited to the partnership, achieved with a horse they have nurtured through every stage of his career.
When AJ confirmed after Cheltenham that “the plan is to go to Aintree with Johnnywho” and that he had come out of the race “in good form”, it was clear this was not a spur‑of‑the‑moment tilt at the National, but a carefully mapped campaign.
Between Jonjo’s historic feel for staying chasers and AJ’s input on targeted campaigns, Johnnywho looks to be in exactly the sort of hands you’d choose for a horse stepping from a big‑field handicap into the most demanding marathon of them all.
It’s Not All Plain Sailing
Of course, if the Grand National was as simple as “won the Ultima, therefore wins at Aintree”, we would all have retired to Barbados by now. There are genuine question marks that mean Johnnywho is more an intriguing contender than a rock‑solid banker.
The first is not whether he will take to Aintree – that question might already be answered. Johnnywho had his reconnaissance mission over the famous Grand National fences in the 2025 Grand Sefton Handicap Chase, finishing sixth after losing momentum when hampered at the Chair.
Far from looking intimidated, he warmed to the task and stayed on in the straight over a trip that was probably on the sharp side, suggesting the fences themselves hold no fears even if he still needs to tidy up one or two of his efforts at speed.
That said, whether he can cope with the sheer brutality of four‑and‑a‑bit miles at National tempo is another question. Until he is asked to go once more past the Elbow after thirty of those fences, we will not know for certain how deep the stamina well really is.
While his form is on a firmly upward curve, he is not bomb‑proof. He has been beaten in smaller fields at graded level and can get outpaced when the tempo quickens sharply, which could leave him playing catch‑up if they go fast early at Aintree before stamina comes into play.
Ticks A Lot Of Boxes
Put all that together, and you are left with a horse who might just be hiding in plain sight.
Johnnywho is a nine‑year‑old, well‑handicapped, festival‑winning staying chaser, trained by a Grand National‑winning stable, owned by the game’s most meticulous planner, and coming into Aintree off a career‑best that has already marked him down as a legitimate candidate for the famous double.
He may not go off favourite. He may not be the first name that casual punters scribble into their office sweepstake.
But, when the field swings for home on that long, lung‑bursting run‑in at Aintree, it would be no surprise to see those green and gold silks and the familiar O’Neill imprint carried deep into the argument by a horse who has been quietly training for this moment his whole life.
And if Johnnywho does add the 2026 Grand National to his Cheltenham win, we might all wonder how we ever let him go off at a price that, in hindsight, looked rather generous.
BETFRED
