On paper, Monty’s Star does not immediately shout Grand National contender. One win from eleven chase starts, winless since the end of 2023, and a sixth-place finish at Leopardstown in February.
If you were building a profile of the ideal National runner, that is not where you would start.
But horse racing has a habit of rewarding people who look beyond the obvious, and the case for Monty’s Star, now at 12/1 from 20/1, is more interesting than his bare record suggests.
Trained by Henry de Bromhead, the man who made history when Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Grand National on Minella Times in 2021, this nine-year-old bay gelding has spent the last two seasons mixing it at the very highest level of jump racing.
A Gold Cup Horse at a National Price
The key piece of context with Monty’s Star is where he has been running. In March 2025, he finished fourth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, partnered by Rachael Blackmore.
Finishing fourth in a Gold Cup is not a disgrace. It is a race that attracts the best chasers in the world, and he was holding his own for much of the contest before being badly hampered by a faller.
He has run in Grade 1 company at Leopardstown, Punchestown, and Cheltenham throughout his career, consistently taking on the best horses in training.
The form figures look modest at a glance, but the level of opposition he has faced explains a good deal of that. A horse does not get sent off at 8/1 for a Gold Cup by accident.
The question the Grand National poses is a different one altogether. Aintree asks for jumping accuracy across thirty fences, the ability to handle a large field, and stamina over four miles and two furlongs.
Monty’s Star has never run over the National fences before, which is a genuine unknown. But de Bromhead’s record suggests that when he targets this race with a horse, he tends to have done his homework first.
The Trainer Angle
Henry de Bromhead trained the first two home in the 2021 Grand National, with Minella Times winning and Balko Des Flos finishing second.
That was no fluke, coming off the back of a Cheltenham Festival that year in which he also won the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase, and the Gold Cup.
He knows how to prepare horses for big occasions, and the Grand National is a race he clearly understands.
What The Form Actually Says
Monty’s Star has proven a reliable jumper and has never fallen in a chase, which is a big plus at Aintree. Horses that complete the course tend to jump cleanly and stay out of trouble, and his record suggests he can do just that.
He finished sixth at Leopardstown in February, which may seem underwhelming, but with the likes of Fact To File, Gaelic Warrior, Galopin Des Champs, I Am Maximus, and Firefox in front of him, it was a respectable run.
He handles soft and yielding ground, which is relevant at Aintree in April, and his stamina over distances up to three miles has never been seriously questioned.
Whether he sees out the extra mile of the National is the key uncertainty, though his breeding and performances in staying company give reasonable cause for optimism.
The Honest Verdict
Nobody is pretending Monty’s Star is the likeliest winner of the 2026 Grand National, though the amount of money being lumped on him over the last couple of days would suggest otherwise!
He has not won a race in over two years, his recent form has been inconsistent, and he has never set eyes on an Aintree fence.
Those are genuine concerns that any sensible punter should weigh up.
The more realistic target is a place, and at 20/1 that is a perfectly reasonable each-way proposition.
He arrives here as a horse of genuine class, trained by a Grand National winner who is on form at this festival, carrying a weight that the handicapper has set fairly, and with the ability to get competitive if everything falls into place on the day.
In a race where the places often go to horses the market has underestimated, Monty’s Star is one worth considering for those looking for a longer-priced each-way interest.
BETFRED
