Grand National horse could pull out of £1m race day after full runners confirmed | Racing | Sport

The full line-up for the Grand National has been confirmed, but there could still be a late change in the run-up to this weekend’s race. A whopping £1million is on the line for the Aintree feature, which is set to get underway at 4pm on Saturday.

In the build-up to the race, there has been plenty of chopping and changing of the runners’ list, as owners and trainers make their final decisions. JP McManus has thrown his hat into the ring with Grade 1 winner Spillane’s Tower for the National, but the horse might be pulled out at the last minute.

That’s because Spillane’s Tower is also down to race in Thursday’s Bowl, where he is a healthy 9/2 in the odds. Should McManus and co. opt to send him in the Bowl, then he’d be a late withdrawal from the National, opening the door for Gordon Elliott’s Pied Piper to come in as the 34th horse instead.

However, if he skips the Bowl and focuses on the National instead, it would mean Pied Piper is out, and Ben Pauling’s Twig remains the last horse in. This year’s selections have been complicated by the fact that declarations were required 72 hours in advance for the first time in the National’s history.

Final fields used to be set just two days before the race, but bosses at Aintree have changed this to allow more time for excitement to build ahead of the race. However, Spillane’s Tower might not be the only horse that is pulled from the line-up, given Mr Vango could face a similar course of action due to the conditions over the weekend.

Mr Vango is a horse that prefers soft ground, with mud from weeks of rain splattering up and making the track difficult for others. However, following a dry spell, with temperatures said to be high over the weekend, the ground has dried out, meaning Mr Vango could be taken out of the running.

If two horses drop out of the National, then the second reserve Imperial Saint, trained by Philip Hobbs & Johnson White, would sneak into the line-up as well. The deadline for reserves is 1pm on Friday, with all decisions from owners and trainers having to be made by then.

100/1 Ain’t That A Shame

Odds are subject to change