WILLIE Mullins reckons it doesn’t get any better than what he achieved in seeing his son, Patrick, lift the Randox Grand National trophy on Nick Rockett last Saturday, and there’s every chance that’s very accurate when it comes to the emotional significance of any success he’ll have. The moment was so dearly cherished by Irish racing’s most successful trainer in history.

Whether it will get any better in National Hunt racing than someone sending out the first three home in the Randox feature - as well as five of the first seven across the line - is also debatable. To think that any trainer could conjure up such a result is off the charts. It’s hard to think of a better training achievement in National Hunt racing.

If there is an opportunity for the historic 1-2-3 ever to be topped, however, it will probably be done with a team of horses hailing from Closutton, because the quality shape the modern National is taking certainly lends itself to class coming to the fore.

Where do the classiest horses in jumps racing tend to reside? That magical corner of County Carlow is delivering the goods on the big stage like few operations ever have in the sport.

The dynamics of Aintree’s revamped highlight come under scrutiny every year; especially whenever there’s an unfortunate instance of injury or fatality.

There will never be any convincing extremists to change their viewpoint on the race, but communicating to the race’s ‘floating voters’ that every effort is being made to improve safety, while being straight that the reality is that we live in a world where risk is never zero, is important.

Still, a knock-on impact of the race changing complexion in 2013 (when a series of welfare-led changes were introduced) is that the need for Aintree specialists has been majorly reduced. If it wasn’t felt already that a much different type of horse is required now compared to the previous version of the contest, the last few renewals have absolutely hammered that point home.

Major shift

Of the horses who finished in the first four from 2013 to 2019, 15 of the 28 had run at least once before over the National course.

Instead, of the first-four finishers between 2021 and 2025 (no race in 2020 due to Covid), only five of the 20 runners had been seen over the unique course prior to reaching the frame in the big dance. In fact, each of the last five winners had never run over the National fences before. That all suggests that the ‘Aintree factor’ is waning.

If anything, last year’s winner I Am Maximus arguably didn’t go through the contest as smoothly this time around compared to 12 months ago.

As the race gets better, there is a definite shift in profile from the type of candidate that was even needed immediately after the changes were introduced in 2013. It does not appear to be absolutely essential to have extensive big-handicap experience heading to the Liverpool cavalry charge.

Again, of the first four home between 2013 and 2019, the average number of handicap chase runs these horses had before heading to the National was 9.3. How has it been for those in the same positions in the years since? They had an average of just 2.9 handicap chase runs in the locker before travelling to Aintree. That marks a significant drop off on that front.

For all that Nick Rockett has never been tried in a Grade 1 contest (he was a 15-length Grade 2 winner, though), horses with experience of lining up in top-level company have been coming to the fore much more often too.

Each of the first four home last year were Grade 1 winners, while I Am Maximus (second) and Grangeclare West (third) were winners at the highest level in this year’s finish. Fourth-placed Iroko finished second to Inothewayurthinkin in an Aintree Grade 1 last year too.

That is a very different type of shape to the finish than was seen in 2014, for example. Balthazar King (second), Double Seven (third) and Alvarado (fourth) hadn’t ever run in a Grade 1, while the winner, Pineau De Re never lined up in a Grade 1 over fences.

The average age of those finishing in the top four has also dropped slightly to 8.8 years of age in that period, compared to 9.6 immediately after the changes.

Unexposed advantage

Finally, it was a trend in Cheltenham Festival handicap chases this year that the least exposed horses came to prominence, and there were hints in the 2025 Grand National that a similar theme could be on its way to developing.

Myretown (Ultima), Jaguar (Plate), Haiti Couleurs (National Hunt Chase), Caldwell Potter (Jack Richards) and Jazzy Matty (Grand Annual) all only had the bare minimum number of runs over fences required to qualify for the respective races at Cheltenham. The only other handicap chase scorer, Daily Present (Kim Muir) had just six previous starts over fences.

It is in the £1 million contest’s conditions that prior to March 18th, horses must have started in a minimum of six chases in order to be eligible, and this year’s third-placed Grangeclare West and sixth-placed Senior Chief had the bare minimum six chasing runs before lining up at Aintree. The fourth, Iroko, was only marginally above that at seven, and Nick Rockett had eight.

Again, this is a big shift from previous times. From 2013 to 2019, first-four finishers in the race had an average of 16 runs over fences before tackling the National.

Trends can always change from year to year, but it feels as though siding with younger, less exposed, classier types who don’t necessarily have lots of Aintree experience is looking like the way to go when trying to find the winner of the world’s most famous race.

Following Willie Mullins wasn’t a bad place to start in 2025 either. He could easily be the top source for many years to come in the modern-day National.

PRIZE money levels in Irish racing continue to be debated, and an example from Australia shows just how far Britain and Ireland has to go to rival a leading jurisdiction like that.

In an excellent post on X from Australian-based racing journalist/form analyst Carl Di Iorio recently, he pointed out that trainer William Haggas has prepared 20 starters in Sydney for 11 wins (including six Group 1s and the AUS$10 million Golden Eagle).

Those fine efforts from small numbers down under have seen him collect AUS$14.6 million (around £7 million).

In stark contrast, from 1,401 runners in the UK since 2023, Haggas has earned the equivalent of AUS$17 million on home soil, winning 279 races domestically in that window. A stunning gulf.

That Sydney figure could rise even higher if Dubai Honour wins today’s AUS$5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (6.55am) at Randwick - a Group 1 that Haggas has won in three of the last five runnings.

Getting to those levels of prize money in Ireland is clearly a massive challenge, but the ambition needs to be unrelenting in aiming for securing similar standards for horses on these shores.