During a recent stable tour of the famous Paul Nicholls yard at Ditcheat the current champion trainer revealed that last year’s Grand National fifth, Niche Market, will have Aintree as a firm target once again for the 2011/12 season. Connections are hoping the former Bob Buckler-trained chaser will be aimed at a return to the [...]

The BHA have been looking into safety of the Aintree Grand National fences since last April’s race and are expected this week to announce their findings, with a shortened run to the first fence and the removal of drop fences being the main alterations. The official findings will be properly announced in October, but this [...]

Tickets and hospitality packages for the 2012 Grand National meeting are now available to purchase online (from Aug 2nd 2011) – They include hospitality, season tickets and two-day grandstand badges for the world’s greatest steeple chase and the other days of the 3-day meeting.. For more information, hospitality options will be available to buy online [...]

Jockey Tom Scudamore, who has been sidelined from riding since the 2011 Grand National meeting back in April, is hoping to return to the saddle on August 16th at Worcester. David Pipe’s number one stable jockey badly injured his shoulder in a tumble from a horse called The Giant Bolster in the John Smith’s Mildmay [...]

Get your 2012 Grand National tickets here >> The 2012 John Smith’s Grand National might still be more than nine months away, but tickets and hospitality for the world-famous Aintree race will be available from Tuesday, August 2, as organisers start planning “for the biggest event of the year in the racing and social calendar”. [...]

Scottish Grand National winner Beshabar and runner-up Merigo are being lined up for a tilt at next year’s Grand National. Beshabar, who is trained by Tim Vaughan in Wales, held off Merigo by three-quarters of a length to secure last weekend’s Scottish National, but it seems they will both go at Aintree on April 14, [...]

Tidal Bay’s trainer Howard Johnson “might be tempted to run him” at Ayr for the Coral Scottish Grand National on Saturday after a swift exit last weekend at Aintree. The 10-year-old could only make it as far as the 10th fence of the Grand National before unseating jockey Brian Hughes – and Johnson finds it [...]

There are just a few days to go before the John Smith’s Grand National gets underway – and it looks like it could be a big day for the Irish. Saturday’s race is always something of a lottery. However, with the likelihood that 14 of 40 starters will come from the Emerald Isle, following on [...]

Paul Nicholls reckons What A Friend is “a brilliant jumper” that has a great chance of landing the John Smith’s Grand National – although that is dependent on “the weather staying dry”. Any rain leading up to the April 9 race at Aintree might worry Nicholls, who watched his eight-year-old book a Grand National spot [...]

The John Smith’s Grand National is less than three weeks away, but that hasn’t stopped owner Harry Findlay selling Big Fella Thanks to the Crossed Fingers Partnership. The nine-year-old – trained by English-based Irishman Ferdy Murphy – came home in fourth place at last year’s running of the four-and-a-half-mile race at Aintree, when Paul Nicholls [...]