Gentleman De Mee

Aintree is his place. From just three visits to the famous Grand National track, he has won twice — a remarkable 2 from 3 — and both of those came in Class 1 company, the very top tier of the sport. The most recent was the Topham Chase in April 2025, run over the Grand National fences themselves. Jockey Mark Walsh described getting shuffled to the back after missing the start, then watching the horse simply take over on the second circuit, "winging fences" down towards Becher's Brook until he'd worked his way into a winning position. That's not luck. That's a horse who knows what he's doing around a particular track.

Walsh has ridden him in 17 of his 26 races, winning 4 of them — a win rate of roughly 1 in 4, or 24%. That's a meaningful partnership. Mullins, who has sent out a staggering 220 winners already this season from his Muine Bheag stable, knows this horse well enough to plan around his quirks: he typically needs a racecourse outing to blow away the cobwebs and only really hits his stride in spring. Recent form shows six races without a win, but given the trainer has already flagged Aintree in April as the target, that sequence reads less like decline and more like a horse being pointed at the right race.

He also clearly appreciates some cut in the ground — on slightly soft turf he's won 2 from 4, a 50% record that stands out sharply from the rest of his profile. Put him on wet ground at Aintree in April and you're looking at a horse who has done exactly this before. Twice.