L’Homme Presse’s Grand National dream is over for another year after connections confirmed the Venetia Williams-trained chaser will miss the 2026 renewal at Aintree on April 11.
The gelding had already missed this season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup due to a minor issue and, with time running out, owner and trainer have reluctantly drawn stumps on a National challenge they had been keen to pursue.
Connections described themselves as “devastated” to bow out of the race, but accepted that pushing on would not be fair to a horse who has given them so many big days.
For racing fans, it removes one of the more familiar names from the Grand National picture and slightly flattens the home defence against the Irish raiders circling the top of the betting.
The immediate priority is now to let L’Homme Presse recover fully, with Aintree’s unique test – big field, long trip, and daunting fences – firmly off the table.
It is a frustrating outcome given how carefully his spring had been mapped, but connections have been here before and know that with a horse of his quality, patience usually pays better than bravado.
“We all thought it was made for him and he had a really good chance, so to have that cruelly taken away is painful.”
Heartbreak for the brilliant connections of L’Homme Presse who have had Grand National dreams dashed by a setback https://t.co/I5AzLYa0dC
— Adam Morgan (@Adam_Morgs) April 1, 2026
Real National Potential
If L’Homme Presse will be missing from Aintree, his body of work already ensures he won’t be missing from any recent conversation about top-class staying chasers.
The French-bred gelding has built a formidable chasing record since joining Williams, climbing swiftly from handicaps to Grade 1 company.
His breakthrough campaign in 2021/22 brought a run of wins that included success at Cheltenham and Ascot, before he capped his novice season by landing the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival over three miles.
That performance flagged him up as a future Gold Cup contender and a horse who relishes a proper stamina test.
He has since held his own in open company, mixing it with the very best. L’Homme Presse finished fourth in the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup, in a race dominated by Irish challengers.
He also won the 2025 Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham, and picked up big-race victories at Lingfield, Ascot, Newcastle and Sandown over his career, repeatedly carrying hefty weights and high expectations with the sort of no-nonsense attitude punters tend to warm to.
Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth. He unseated at Kempton in the 2022 King George and has had interruptions through training niggles, but even those blips have done little to dim enthusiasm about what he can do when everything falls right.
At 11, he is very much in the veteran phase, but his recent form figures, including a second-place finish in the Denman Chase as well as another run in the 2026 Gold Cup, suggest the engine still runs just fine when he turns up in one piece.
Venetia Williams: Patient Operator
If any trainer knows the value of playing the long game with a staying chaser, it is Venetia Williams.
Based in Herefordshire, she has made a career out of producing tough, strong-travelling horses who thrive when the mud is flying in midwinter and early spring.
Williams famously won the Grand National in 2009 with Mon Mome, who sprang a 100-1 shock but looked every inch a proper staying chaser on the day as he powered clear after the last.
That success put her in a very select club of National-winning trainers and ensured any staying type she saddles for Aintree gets plenty of attention.
In recent seasons, she has again been a regular presence in the big Saturday races, with L’Homme Presse the standard-bearer of a strong team. Her method tends to be straightforward, and she picks her battles carefully rather than chasing every big pot on the calendar.
It is an approach that has served connections well with L’Homme Presse so far, and it is no surprise that when the trainer and owners say the National has to be missed, the decision comes from a place of experience rather than panic.
What Happens Next?
The 2026 Grand National road rolls on without L’Homme Presse. The next key date is the five-day confirmation stage on Monday, April 6, when trainers will have to decide whether to keep their remaining entries in the race.
That list will give the clearest picture yet of the likely field and which of the leading fancies are definitely heading to Aintree, even if a few late curveballs are always possible.
Final declarations follow on Wednesday, April 8, when the maximum field will be confirmed, and jockey bookings will be locked in for the big day on April 11.
By then, attention will have shifted from who is missing to who might handle the fences, the trip, and the occasion best, as the usual sweepstakes and office debates get into full swing.
As for L’Homme Presse, he will sit this one out, no doubt wondering why the humans keep making such a fuss about 30 fences when he has already spent a career jumping plenty of them perfectly well elsewhere.
BETFRED
