IRISH trainers are set to have their biggest ever proportional representation in the Randox Grand National, with Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins the chief contributors to a total of 26 raiding horses among the current top 34 ahead of the confirmation stage on Monday.

Last year there was a record 26 Irish horses in a field of 39 runners. The race looks set to be run on soft ground with the National course described as soft, heavy in places as of yesterday, and an unsettled forecast for the next seven days.

Elliott has 10 horses to run, though current top weight Conflated may instead run in the Aintree Bowl on Thursday, while Mullins has eight horses among the top 34. If Conflated is not declared, 2022 winner Noble Yeats will carry top weight and the whole field will move 1lb.

Corach Rambler remains the 5/1 favourite for back-to-back wins though his trainer Lucinda Russell was hoping for a drier forecast this week. The Mullins-trained I Am Maximus is next in the betting at 6/1 while Vanillier is third best at 10/1, while Kitty’s Light (number 38 on the card) is next in at 14/1.

On the same price line as the latter is John McConnell’s Coral Gold Cup runner-up Mahler Misson. Speaking to The Irish Field this week, McConnell said: “I wouldn’t mind soft ground. I don’t want any extremes but he certainly goes through soft ground very well.

“Physically he looks stronger. He’s as well as we’ve ever had him. Hopefully that translates to a good run.

“Ben Harvey rides. He’s done all the work on him. He schooled him in the Curragh over the National fences there. Fingers crossed we get him there in one piece.”

Also a 14/1 shot is Martin Brassil’s Panda Boy, who needs just one to come out on Tuesday, while the Curragh-based trainer also has Desertmore House vying for a place from number 41 on the card.

“The weather is all we’re worried about really,” Brassil told The Irish Field. “It looks like it could be quite soft and that would be a bit of a worry for better ground horses like my two.

“JJ Slevin rides Panda Boy and Ricky Doyle rides Desertmore House. Panda Boy could be a real National horse. He stays well, is a good solid horse to jump and he has actually run better on soft ground this year. I’d say the fact he is a stronger horse has helped in that regard.

“I’d be just as positive about Desertmore House (40/1). He is a Kerry National winner, a good solid stayer and straightforward jumper.”

Entries for the first day of the Aintree Grand National Festival were published yesterday and feature several high profile Irish horses. Bob Olinger and Impaire Et Passe look likely to clash in the Aintree Hurdle, while Gerri Colombe, Hewick, Banbridge and the novice Corbetts Cross could meet in what looks a fine renewal of the Aintree Bowl.